Lawmakers Go After Deadly Tesla Handles
In a real emergency, you don’t get a calm tutorial. You get smoke, darkness, panic, and seconds that feel like pennies sliding off a table. That’s why “how do I open the door” is not a design detail. It’s survival.
Reuters reported that NHTSA opened a defect investigation into 179,071 model year 2022 Tesla Model 3 vehicles over concerns that emergency door release controls may not be easily accessible or clearly identifiable. Reuters also reported the agency opened the investigation on December 23, 2025 after a defect petition alleged the mechanical door release is hidden, unlabeled, and not intuitive in an emergency. That reporting is here: Reuters on the Model 3 emergency door release investigation.
Photo by Eyosias G on Unsplash
Now lawmakers are circling the same issue with a House bill listed as the “SAFE Exit Act” in a House Energy & Commerce subcommittee hearing notice titled “Locked In: The Dangers of Automotive Technology Failures.” You can see the bill name on the hearing materials at House Energy & Commerce Democrats’ hearing page.
What the Tesla Door Release Bill Would Put on the Table
Even without bill text in front of you, the direction is clear: make emergency exits easier to find and easier to use when power or electronics fail.
That sits next to an existing federal baseline. U.S. rules already cover door locks and door retention components under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 206, published in the CFR as 49 CFR 571.206. The argument lawmakers are pushing is that modern tech choices can still produce real-world “locked in” scenarios, even when a vehicle checks compliance boxes.
The bigger point for readers is simple. EVs and modern cars lean harder on electronics for doors, and “manual backup” only works if humans can find it fast, under stress, without knowing the car.
My Verdict
Don’t wait for Congress to save you. Learn your own car.
Find the manual door release on your vehicle now, in daylight, with no pressure. Do it for the front seats and the rear seats. Teach the people you actually carry. If you drive rideshare, do it twice.
Bills and investigations take time. Your next crash won’t.