Rear Seat Emergency Door Release Cables

[DerbyDave]

Is it just me? I feel it necessary to inform adult rear passengers how to get out of the S in case of an emergency using the rear cable pulls under the seat front. I haven't yet gone as far as to print up Emergency Procedures cards placed in the pocket of the seat in front of you. I wish there was some way to make the carpet opening more visible and easier to open, Maybe a red or orange pull tab would do the job. Any ideas, or am I just paranoid and should not bother?

 

[MIBryan]

If this were an ICE car, would you do the same? If you're seriously worried, carry the device that will break safety glass in car windows (it is a spring loaded punch type device - forget what it is actually called).

 

[NOLA21SGuy]

If this were an ICE car, would you do the same? If you're seriously worried, carry the device that will break safety glass in car windows (it is a spring loaded punch type device - forget what it is actually called).

An automatic center punch.

 

[DerbyDave]

If this were an ICE car, would you do the same? If you're seriously worried, carry the device that will break safety glass in car windows (it is a spring loaded punch type device - forget what it is actually called).

In an Ice car, the rear doors open without requiring electricity. When the car cuts power in a major accident, back seat passengers cannot get out without pulling the emergency cable under the seat. I would be very mad after I die if my friend did not tell me how to get out in the event of a major accident, so I wouldn't be trapped in the rear seat. The front doors open fine without electricity.

 

[David in NC]

to answer your question, it is just you....

 

[maximizese]

I do the same. Commonsense is not common and manufacturers build and design towards non-standard parts and systems if there is no regulation. The odds of a vehicle fire are very low, but I think it makes perfect practical sense to learn how to extricate oneself from a vehicle in an emergency. I'm one of those guys who pays attention to the airplane demonstrations, knows how to right a capsized sailboat, and participates with my local CERT (community emergency response team).

Furthermore, Tesla is not the only one to design a less than intuitive door release system. Look at the last 2 generations of Corvettes by General Motors, Jaguar, and even MB's old pneumatic door locking systems were quite unique. Personally, I think it's irresponsible to not read the owner's manuals of today's heavy machinery and to not know the emergency procedures...it's not like we have a lack of time these days to do a little reading.

 

[DerbyDave]

I do the same. Commonsense is not common and manufacturers build and design towards non-standard parts and systems if there is no regulation. The odds of a vehicle fire are very low, but I think it makes perfect practical sense to learn how to extricate oneself from a vehicle in an emergency. I'm one of those guys who pays attention to the airplane demonstrations, knows how to right a capsized sailboat, and participates with my local CERT (community emergency response team).

Furthermore, Tesla is not the only one to design a less than intuitive door release system. Look at the last 2 generations of Corvettes by General Motors, Jaguar, and even MB's old pneumatic door locking systems were quite unique. Personally, I think it's irresponsible to not read the owner's manuals of today's heavy machinery and to not know the emergency procedures...it's not like we have a lack of time these days to do a little reading.

I have window "hammers" for the front in case of the doors getting jammed, but the rear doors not opening without electricity is a new safety limitation to me that most owners likely do not know. You can't just open the door handle in the rear to get out in some situations. I would personally want know how to get out.

 

[Bull]

I read my owners manual but missed this information. I did not know the rear doors would not open without electrical power.

It makes me wonder about the recent double fatal crash and fire where the driver was found in the back seat. Was he trying to get out and did not know this?

 

[DerbyDave]

From looking at photos of crash. The driver's door is blocked by a tree. I think the driver got into the back trying to get out, but the doors would not open because power had been cut. He did not know about this problem and the emergency release. Cops thought no one was driving. Time will tell.

 

[ucmndd]

Today I learned there’s an emergency release for the rear doors. How bout that.

 

[Doanster1]

Today I learned there’s an emergency release for the rear doors. How bout that.

Ditto! Where? Pics?
Also, the comfort of knowing you have a Life Hammer/center punch is nice, but where will it be stored? In the glove box or center console, which deems them hard to access in an accident. I have them in all my cars, but have come to the conclusion if I ever need them, it’ll be to save someone else, not myself.

 

[beatle]

Heck, I just went looking for said emergency release handle/cord/button/thingy and couldn't find anything. Then I watched this video:

I don't think I would have found it otherwise, definitely not in the case of a fire. I am usually one to wag the finger at annoying/useless warnings such as the hideous non-removable ones they have about airbags on the visors, but I think they could be a little less discreet with hiding the emergency releases in the rear.

And if you think the S is obscure, watch the video to see where the emergency rear door release is on the X!

 

[DerbyDave]

I was thinking of maybe putting one of these thru the button hole in the carpet covering to make it easy to find. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004Y46RD2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_225JQ5QT4V25G11A2GKB?psc=1

 

[Doanster1]

Heck, I just went looking for said emergency release handle/cord/button/thingy and couldn't find anything. Then I watched this video:

I don't think I would have found it otherwise, definitely not in the case of a fire. I am usually one to wag the finger at annoying/useless warnings such as the hideous non-removable ones they have about airbags on the visors, but I think they could be a little less discreet with hiding the emergency releases in the rear.

And if you think the S is obscure, watch the video to see where the emergency rear door release is on the X!

Holy crap! No fair just doing the same thing as with the fronts and having the mechanical release built-in to the door handle.

 

[dannycamps]

Today I learned there’s an emergency release for the rear doors. How bout that.

Same - I had no idea. Now I have to go look for it.

Edit: that video was very helpful.

 

[beatle]

Holy crap! No fair just doing the same thing as with the fronts and having the mechanical release built-in to the door handle.

Yeah, I don't know why they didn't do the same thing as the front. It actually seems more complicated to have the emergency release hidden under the carpet.

 

[Zuikkis]

Yeah, I don't know why they didn't do the same thing as the front. It actually seems more complicated to have the emergency release hidden under the carpet.

If you look at the mechanism, you understand why.

Front doors are "regular" in that the locking mechanism is in the door. It's easy to build a mechanical connection from the door handle to the mechanism.

Rear doors are built backwards. The locking mechanism is in the car body. There's no (easy) way to make a mechanical connection from the door handle.

 

[DerbyDave]

Further evidence today that the crash mentioned above DID have a driver in the driver's seat, and he was driving -- not autopilot. I still think he crawled to the back seat because the front door was blocked, and was then found burned to death in the back seat because those doors wouldn't open with the power cut without pulling the emergency manual cable release, and he did not know where the cable release was.

NTSB finds driver seat was occupied in fatal Tesla crash in Spring, Texas

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) just issued new details in a high-profile Tesla fatal crash investigation.

www.cnbc.com

 

[Bull]

Further evidence today that the crash mentioned above DID have a driver in the driver's seat, and he was driving -- not autopilot. I still think he crawled to the back seat because the front door was blocked, and was then found burned to death in the back seat because those doors wouldn't open with the power cut without pulling the emergency manual cable release, and he did not know where the cable release was.

NTSB finds driver seat was occupied in fatal Tesla crash in Spring, Texas

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) just issued new details in a high-profile Tesla fatal crash investigation.

www.cnbc.com

This has been my theory as well. I have started telling people in the back seat where the emergency releases are.