China Bans Hidden Car Door Handles | Hacker News Reader

China Bans Hidden Car Door Handles

bloomberg.com

44 pointslxgr8 comments

What gets me is for years we have had safety standards set by the DOT. For example, you could not import a car with one windshield wiper. Now it seems anythings goes like unproven auto pilots, massively distracting touch screens, and electronic door locks.

This is great and about time. I hope the rest of the world will align on this too. There are some things that do not need reinventing, and car door handles is one of them.

Absolutely. Even if there's an electrical "convenience" mode of operation, locks as well as handles/latches to open the door from inside or outside should be able to be operated mechanically in case of loss of power, via obvious and accessible handles or levers.

Agreed

Quote from the article:

> Cars sold in China will be required to have mechanical release both on the inside and outside ... The crackdown follows several high-profile incidents, including two fiery Xiaomi Corp. EV crashes in China where power failures were suspected to have prevented doors from opening, leaving people — unable to escape or be rescued – to die.

I'm not sure the "hidden door handles" in the title comes from. Tesla's handle is banned because it's purely electronic, but I would not call it hidden.

Some Tesla models have backup manual releases on the inside that are hidden behind panels you have to remove. I believe one of the manuals even says you should inform all passengers of the location of the emergency manual releases, because well they are hidden and you wouldn't know where to find them without instructions.

http://archive.today/6fVVJ

I mean is there anything stopping a mechanical door handle that still is flush and aerodynamically efficient?

That fire crews can still basically use to open with lack of power?

And how does electronic door locks figure into this. Is there some fire bypass for those?

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