A Phoneix grandmother locked out of her Tesla with her grandchild in the back seat

[Tam]

I mean come-on. Tesla has frameless windows, and the front manual door release is easily reachable with a rod to grab and pull it without breaking a window. Any locksmith, or AAA, etc., could have the front doors opened in seconds with no damage. Probably faster than the fire department breaking the window since they had to tape it up first to prevent the spread of glass shards. I'm surprised that the fire department doesn't have such "lock-out" tools. (They mentioned that they can't get in a Tesla, are they just ignorant of the door release and think that Teslas are something special and different from every other car on the road?)

Fire department is trained to break doors and not the art of locksmith.

I am not an expert but there might be reasons that they refuse to learn the art of locksmith.

AAA offers 12V replacement when drivers are stranded on the road, but they can't do it on a Tesla. Sure, you can try to call AAA in this case but I doubt they can be of any help just like the way they are trained on roadside 12V battery replacement.

You can call 24/7 locksmith but it's doubtful that they can arrive as fast as the fire department.

Yes, there are ways to get into a Tesla but it's not as convenient if Tesla refuses to design a mechanical key.

 

[TheLastDon]

This is a real issue.

It would be a good practice to open the driver door before closing the kids door. I’d say open the window, but afraid they would close on their own.

They should get involved. AZ has been over 100* every day for a couple of weeks now. Not sure how long a kid can survive in a 150*+ car but this could turn fatal quick.

Worse comes to worse, you can always pick up a rock and smash the window. This really isn't some huge problem.

 

[Tam]

Worse comes to worse, you can always pick up a rock and smash the window. This really isn't some huge problem.

Correct. But it is a preventable issue.

It's just like it's not a big deal for a toddler to fall into a pool without a fence and die because I learned CPR and I can resuscitate a drowning victim.

 

[zoomer0056]

I mean come-on. Tesla has frameless windows, and the front manual door release is easily reachable with a rod to grab and pull it without breaking a window. Any locksmith, or AAA, etc., could have the front doors opened in seconds with no damage. Probably faster than the fire department breaking the window since they had to tape it up first to prevent the spread of glass shards. I'm surprised that the fire department doesn't have such "lock-out" tools. (They mentioned that they can't get in a Tesla, are they just ignorant of the door release and think that Teslas are something special and different from every other car on the road?)

Does this really work, can a Tesla be opened with a coat hanger?

 

[MitchMitch]

+++ @MP3Mike, and props to @FastEddieB for the YouTube link. Lets here it for people helping themselves.

My point is STILL if owners/operators took a moment to learn SOMETHING about the machine instead of relying on historical momentum or mindless habit to wander through life, things might progress to a better state.

Anyone here remember when you didn't need a key to turn the electric starter over?

If you aren't strong enough to pry the window yourself, enlist some help.
If you call the fire department, mention the door release position, or the jumper cable leads.

Or, just call the news station and exclaim the end of the world.

Honestly, If I broke my arm trying to start my car I would try to bring it off that an errant bull and I had a disagreement.

 

[CyberGus]

Easy fix

 

[Tam]

+++ @MP3Mike, and props to @FastEddieB for the YouTube link. Lets here it for people helping themselves.

My point is STILL if owners/operators took a moment to learn SOMETHING about the machine instead of relying on historical momentum or mindless habit to wander through life, things might progress to a better state.

Anyone here remember when you didn't need a key to turn the electric starter over?

If you aren't strong enough to pry the window yourself, enlist some help.
If you call the fire department, mention the door release position, or the jumper cable leads.

Or, just call the news station and exclaim the end of the world.

Honestly, If I broke my arm trying to start my car I would try to bring it off that an errant bull and I had a disagreement.

I think This thread is an educational moment rather than complaints.

Thus, I do think it's good thing to bring it up.

 

[MitchMitch]

This thread, absolutely!
Click Hungry, Melodramatic Local 6'oclock News with people paid to sensationalize literally ANYTHING, maybe not so much.
They KNOW anything Tesla will get an extra looksee.
Sheese, even I looked when I overheard "OTEZLA" coming from the TV in the next room. (turns out its arthritis medicine )

If the Fireman cut his finger breaking the glass, this would have been "if it bleeds it leads" on the network news. . . who knows, maybe we'll get there yet.

 

[Lance From Jax]

* frunk. Silly mobile keyboard always "corrects" that.

I read that as FRUNK,

 

[advocate8]

Correct. But it is a preventable issue.

It's just like it's not a big deal for a toddler to fall into a pool without a fence and die because I learned CPR and I can resuscitate a drowning victim.

smashing the window is not going to killl the toddler. This thread is much ado about zero. If there is a serious safety situation with heat, smash the window. If there is not, use one of the “less invasive” solutions like calling police, AAA, whatever.
Trust me, I’m not going to think twice about a $200 window if it’s my kid or dog.
Again, this happens daily with ICE cars. 1st world problem.

 

[Lance From Jax]

Don't you love how these News producers make it black and white for dramatic effect, Grandma looks inside from the outside, kids view. Good Lord, the car was INSIDE her garage! I felt like I was watching Hard Copy back in the 80's

 

[TheLastDon]

Correct. But it is a preventable issue.

It's just like it's not a big deal for a toddler to fall into a pool without a fence and die because I learned CPR and I can resuscitate a drowning victim.

No, that is not a good comparison at all. A toddler can accidentally slip into a pool. A toddler isn't going to accidentally lock himself in a Tesla that just happens to have a dead battery. The chances of that are VERY remote.

 

[ewoodrick]

Toddler trapped in car when Tesla battery dies in Scottsdale

A Scottsdale woman says her granddaughter got trapped inside a Tesla when the car's battery died.

www.azfamily.com

Scary, but aside from what she did, is there another option to open doors quickly from the outside in an emergency with a dead LV battery?

The EXACT same way a friend of mine's wife did. (not an EV)

Get someone to knock the window out.

Is a life more than the cost of a window?

 

[ewoodrick]

It's hidden in the fob. Doesn't look like a separate extra object to carry. Here's from the cheapo Kia EV6:

I looked this up the other day for what I believe was the Camry. Yes, the fob has a key.

But the door doesn't have a keyhole.

Oh year, there's this little pick thing in the fob as well. You take it out and put it in the little hole in the door handle and it pops open the key lock.

How many Camry owners read those instructions!

 

[Tam]

No, that is not a good comparison at all. A toddler can accidentally slip into a pool. A toddler isn't going to accidentally lock himself in a Tesla that just happens to have a dead battery. The chances of that are VERY remote.

We are talking about a design and how big deal if that design fails.

Good designer for a pool should include a child-proof fence.

Good designer for an electronic door is a backup mechanical keys.

A good designer does not blame victims but design such as to prevent victims.

 

[TheLastDon]

The EXACT same way a friend of mine's wife did. (not an EV)

Get someone to knock the window out.

Is a life more than the cost of a window?

Your friend's wife literally died in a car because someone wouldn't break out the window?

 

[ewoodrick]

Your friend's wife literally died in a car because someone wouldn't break out the window?

Her kids were locked in the back. I believe that she left her keys in the car. She panicked and got someone to knock out the window.

(Her husband was actually close, and it wasn't hot. The kids would have not been in any danger if left inside until he got there. So he was slightly upset at having to buy a new window)

EDIT:
Let me correct this, my friend was indeed ready to kill her for doing it.

 

[ewoodrick]

We are talking about a design and how big deal if that design fails.

Good designer for a pool should include a child-proof fence.

Good designer for an electronic door is a backup mechanical keys.

A good designer does not blame victims but design such as to prevent victims.

Good point.

As I just posted, my friend's wife left her keys in the car.
I guess that legacy locks were a bad design because they only had a single mechanism of defeat, the key. A single failure point.
Stick a toothpick in a lock and it disables it.
Fill it full of Elmer's glue and it becomes disabled.

Legacy keys are definitely a bad design.

In most cases, Tesla provides multiple entry methods. Seems like an advantage to the classic "left my keys in the car" problem.

 

[Tam]

Good point.

As I just posted, my friend's wife left her keys in the car.
I guess that legacy locks were a bad design because they only had a single mechanism of defeat, the key. A single failure point.
Stick a toothpick in a lock and it disables it.
Fill it full of Elmer's glue and it becomes disabled.

Legacy keys are definitely a bad design.

In most cases, Tesla provides multiple entry methods. Seems like an advantage to the classic "left my keys in the car" problem.

Yes. One problem at at time.

Hand crank the motor can lead to injuries.

Switching it to key ignition would solve that hand crank injury problem but that doesn't address other problems.

Backup key can solve the problem when the key is with the owner.

However, to solve the problem of it being left in the car, you need to design another solution: "remote left in vehicle alert." Yes, there are cars such as Lexus, Buick... would give you such an alert. But it doesn't prevent the problem of ignoring the alert.

So first thing first, can 1 problem be addressed first then move on to another.

 

[ewoodrick]

Yes. One problem at at time.

Hand crank the motor can lead to injuries.

Switching it to key ignition would solve that hand crank injury problem but that doesn't address other problems.

Backup key can solve the problem when the key is with the owner.

However, to solve the problem of it being left in the car, you need to design another solution: "remote left in vehicle alert." Yes, there are cars such as Lexus, Buick... would give you such an alert. But it doesn't prevent the problem of ignoring the alert.

So first thing first, can 1 problem be addressed first then move on to another.

I think that everyone's point is that you are considering Tesla's solution a bad design.

But yet keys, which could be considered worse, existed for nearly 100 years and were never faulted as a "bad design"

For example, how many times have kids been locked in other vehicles?
And now, over 6 years after the Model 3's start, we have a "problem"