Headlights. Indicators. Trunk releases. Seatbelts. Airbags. Just about any part of a car you can think of has evolved through safety regulations... except the door handle.

However, after a series of deadly incidents where doors wouldn’t open, regulators are now examining if electrically activated door handles are suitable for road-going automobiles. 

Wasn't the danger of these complicated electronic door handles easy to foresee?

It’s not hard to find case reports of fatal incidents involving vehicles with electronic door handles—both inside and out. Multiple cases have involved occupants burning alive inside Tesla vehicles, in which electronic door handles failed after a crash. Passengers inside the vehicles have failed to escape due to not finding emergency release door pulls hidden in the door panels, while bystanders have similarly been unable to use the retracted outside door handles to free those trapped inside.

https://hackaday.com/2025/11/26/chinese-regulators-may-kill-retractable-car-door-handles-that-never-should-have-existed/