Tesla firing up: Emergency latch awareness needed

When A Tesla crashed on Lakeshore Boulevard. in toronto The first people to arrive at the scene last month knew there were people inside but were not able to get them out immediately.

“You couldn’t open the car,” said Canada Post employee Rick Harper, who saw flames rising from the vehicle and stopped to help. With the help of bystanders, they managed to break one of the car windows and pull a woman to safety.

4 people in the vehicle, including the driver, died.

“The car locked up because there was no battery power,” Harper said. “I don’t know all the details about Tesla… but he couldn’t get himself out until we broke that window.”

The crash is still under investigation and police said it was unclear whether the crash or the fire that engulfed the vehicle caused the deaths.

However, the incident has raised some doubts about the safety of electric vehicles in emergency situations. The doors need electricity to open, and if the battery runs out, the doors may be locked.

A similar crash in Wisconsin last week is also being investigated by police. 5 people died when the Tesla crashed into a tree and caught fire.

“It’s just a different world,” said Mike Klimkosky, who helps first responders prepare for some of the challenges faced in responding to electric vehicle-related accidents and fires. “We will have to look at these things differently.”

Klimkosky says EVs have a latch inside the car that can manually open the doors.

He said there is usually one on the driver’s side and sometimes in the backseat of the car. He says every vehicle owner should learn about these latches and review the owner’s manual for vehicle-specific systems because they can save lives. Tesla’s manual is available online Here.

“A mechanical latch or key will open the door under all circumstances,” he says. “Is (the vehicle) moving, is it in an accident, what happened? He will open the door.”

But it appears that some either don’t know about the latch or are unable to access it in an emergency due to factors such as location, inability, or disorientation.

CTV National News interviewed a man who said he was trapped in his Tesla during the July flood in Toronto as floodwaters rose. He finally managed to open the window and get out.

“Windows are stuck, doors are stuck. I couldn’t open the car, it was completely closed,” said Edris Kyalignmba. “It was really scary. “It was like a horror movie.”

A Florida family filed a lawsuit against Tesla over its doors, claiming they were responsible for Omar Awan’s death in 2019. First responders said they tried to get Awan out of the car but were unable to open the doors. The medical examination report states that Awan died from burns and inhaling toxic fumes, not from the impact of the accident.

But in court filings, Tesla denied the family’s claims, saying the car was “cutting edge” and met industry standards.

Klimkosky says electric vehicles, including Teslas, are safe, perhaps safer than gas-powered vehicles.

According to the U.S. High Safety Insurance Institute, injury claims for occupants of electric vehicles were more than 40 percent lower than for the same gas-powered models between 2011 and 2019.