NHTSA Moves to Require Safer Door Handles After 15 Deaths in Teslas

Federal safety regulators have started the process of writing a new rule that would force every automaker in the country to build door handles drivers and passengers can actually use to get out of a crashed car. The move follows years of reports describing people trapped inside vehicles with flush, electronically operated door handles after a crash, including a string of fatal incidents involving Tesla models.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced on July 23 that it is granting a petition asking the agency to require “a robust and obvious door egress system” in all motor vehicles sold in the United States. The petition originally asked NHTSA to open a formal defect investigation into the emergency mechanical door release built into 2022 Tesla Model 3 vehicles, arguing the design does not meet federal motor vehicle safety standards. NHTSA denied that specific request but said the underlying problem is real and better addressed through a new safety standard than a single defect probe.

Granting a rulemaking petition is an early step. NHTSA has not committed to a final rule, and the agency stressed that opening the process does not guarantee new requirements will follow. What happens next is a public comment period, data gathering, and, if the agency decides a standard is justified, a formal rule proposal that automakers would eventually have to meet across their entire lineups.

What Triggered the Rule

Bloomberg’s reporting on the door handle problem found at least 15 deaths over the past decade in which drivers or passengers, or the people trying to rescue them, could not get a car door open after a crash. In several of those cases, occupants survived the initial impact only to die later from a fire they could not escape when the doors would not release. NHTSA opened a formal investigation into Tesla Model 3 door handles in September 2025 after receiving nine complaints from owners who said they could not get into their own cars, in some cases with children still inside.

The mechanical problem at the center of these cases is specific to how flush, power-operated handles work. Tesla vehicles do have a manual release built into the door, but on several models it sits inside the car, tucked below the main power handle in a spot many owners never notice until they need it in an emergency. NHTSA’s initial review found that the manual releases can also fail to work as intended if the electronic door locks are not receiving enough voltage from the vehicle’s battery system, which is exactly the situation a car is likely to be in after a serious crash. A dead or damaged 12-volt battery can leave both the powered handle and, in some configurations, the backup release non-functional at the same time.

Tesla design chief Franz von Holzhausen said last year that the company was working on a redesign of its handles. Rivian said in 2025 it was moving the manual release on its R2 SUV to a more visible location near the electric handle, an acknowledgment that placement, not just the existence of a backup, changes whether someone disoriented after a collision can actually find and use it.

Why Flush Handles Became Standard

The safety debate is unfolding against a design trend that has swept the industry over the past decade. Flush, retractable door handles sit nearly level with a car’s body panel and pop out when a key fob approaches or a button is pressed, cutting wind resistance and helping electric vehicles stretch range on a charge. Industry estimates put roughly 72 percent of new EV models on sale today with some form of flush handle, and manufacturers describe the aerodynamic gain and the “smart access” feel as a selling point rather than a gimmick. Tesla, Rivian and Lucid have all built their EV lineups around the look.

The problem regulators are now confronting is that the same feature that shaves a fraction of a percent off drag can turn into a life-threatening obstacle the moment a car loses electrical power in a crash, a fire, or a flood. A traditional mechanical handle works the same way whether the battery is charged or not. A flush handle that relies on an electric motor to present itself, or a backup release hidden in an unfamiliar spot, asks a driver or a first responder to solve a puzzle in the middle of an emergency.

What a New Standard Could Require

Current federal rules, spelled out in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 206, govern door locks, latches and hinges, but they do not specify where a mechanical emergency release has to sit or how visible or clearly labeled it needs to be. That gap is what the new rulemaking is meant to close. Consumer advocates who have pushed for the change want any standard to require a backup release that works with zero electrical power, sits in a location a rescuer can find without training, and is marked with a consistent symbol across every make and model, similar to how emergency exit markings work on aircraft and buses.

Firefighters and other first responders have separately flagged flush handles as a complication at crash scenes: a handle that will not present itself, or a backup that is hidden under a trim panel, can cost precious seconds when a vehicle is on fire. Some fire departments have started training specifically on Tesla and other EV door mechanisms for that reason.

The Pressure Is Building Overseas Too

The United States is not acting in isolation. The Netherlands Vehicle Authority, which certifies Tesla vehicles for sale across the European Union, has said new door handle rules are already in development, with a spokesperson stating plainly that doors must always be operable from inside by occupants and from outside by emergency responders, regardless of whether the vehicle has lost electrical power. Members of the European Parliament have formally asked the European Commission whether it plans to require a mechanical release that does not depend on a car’s electrical system at all.

China has already gone further than either the U.S. or the EU. Regulators there will require every vehicle sold in the country to include a working mechanical door release starting January 1, 2027, giving automakers a hard deadline that predates anything so far proposed in Washington or Brussels. In Congress, a bill known as the SAFE Exit Act has been introduced that would require manufacturers to fit every vehicle with a manual door handle that works in all circumstances, though it has not advanced as quickly as NHTSA’s own rulemaking process.

What Drivers Can Do Now

Anyone who owns or is considering a vehicle with flush or power-operated door handles should locate the manual release for every door, including rear seats, before it is ever needed in an emergency. Owner’s manuals typically describe where the backup mechanism sits, and several automakers, including Tesla, have published short videos showing the exact location and motion needed to trigger it. Parents who regularly put children in rear seats should specifically confirm how the back-door manual releases work, which are often less obvious than the ones up front.

Anyone who has experienced being unable to exit a vehicle, or who was unable to help someone else exit after a crash, can file a complaint directly with NHTSA through its website or by calling the agency’s Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236. Those complaints become part of the public record NHTSA is required to weigh as it decides whether to move from this early rulemaking step toward an actual safety standard.

The public comment period on the petition NHTSA granted will give safety advocates, automakers and ordinary drivers a formal chance to weigh in before any rule is drafted. Given the scale of the shift toward electric vehicles, and the corresponding rise in flush handle designs, the outcome of this rulemaking will likely shape how nearly every new car sold in the U.S. is built for years to come.

Sources:

• Tesla’s door handles may spur new US safety rules
• US to Begin Work on New Car Door Safety Rules After Deaths in Teslas
• Automotive Flush Door Handles Market Size, Growth Analysis & Forecast
• Europe working on electronic door handle safety regulation after deaths