By Steven Symes 
An adult driver and two children were trapped in a crashed Tesla, burning alive in a horrific event in Germany. This is the kind of situation we see play out over and over, and despite what some people seem to think, the problem extends beyond the Tesla brand.
Watch a sovereign citizen get stopped from fleeing by a Grappler Bumper.
The horrific accident in Germany happened on September 7, says German publication Ruhr Nachrichten, but it’s just now making waves here in the US. We’ve seen too many incidents like this and it’s gotten to the point the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation.
What it comes down to is in a crash, the Tesla lost power, so the door handles stopped working. Bystanders who ran up to help get the man and two children out of the EV instead could only watch in horror as they were killed by the flames.
This issue has trapped kids in electric cars many times. When it’s hot outside, parents panic and understandably so. But even with first responders on the scene, they often have to break the window to get the kids out.
But this sort of thing has happened on Ford Mach-Es and other vehicles equipped with retractable door handles. Sure, they’re more aerodynamic, but they come with a huge safety risk.
While it’s true that in Teslas there’s a manual release for the doors hidden in the trim, a lot of Tesla owners don’t even know where it is. Trying to figure that out when your vehicle’s on fire is hardly the time.
Even worse, the Ford Mach-E EV doesn’t have manual releases, so if the power is out to the door handles, your own escape is breaking the glass.
This is why we’re advocates of having a glass break in every vehicle. They can quite literally save your life, especially if your ride has retractable door handles.
Image via LVMPD