Am I overreacting? Tesla Model X falcon wing door safety issue

[wdb]

Any door can smoosh a finger, arm, leg. At least the Tesla doors have some smarts to try and minimize the damage, plus they close very slowly and have a bunch of buttons that can be used to change their direction. Stop worrying.

[lonecitizenfour]

We took out a co-worker's Tesla X and one of other co-worker while getting in, wasn't aware of the doors closing, the corner of the door knocked his glasses thankfully... It could have literally hooked his lower eye lid.

[dsad1]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

OP, although there does seem to be some risk involved, a good conversation with your kids may be in order

There are many dangerous things in life and your kids need to learn how to avoid them.

Maybe instituting a simple 'all clear?' Before closing the doors will prevent accidents.

Whenever I'm working with a jack/quickjack/car lift, before lowering the car I ask 'all clear?' And I don't lower it until everyone near the car answers all clear.

We have had this talk a couple times now. Our issues have more been with accidental presses. I was unbuckling one of our girls and while I was leaning on the car the key got pressed in my pocket and door started closing while my other girl was getting out. Another time wife accidentally pressed the wrong door button on the screen and one of our kids wasn't fully in. Third time as one of the girls was holding on to the pillar to get out of the car she accidentally pressed the button on the pillar and she freaked out.

At this point every time I hear the gong I freak out, and make sure that everyone is out of the way. But it isn't the greatest of feelings. I also made the mistake of watching the YouTube videos with our 7 year old, and now she is scared of the car.

I am not the type of person that usually regrets purchases, I deal with flaws/dislikes and move on with my life. But this issue really does have me worried, which means I am probably going to get rid of the car.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by djsaad1

We have had this talk a couple times now. Our issues have more been with accidental presses. I was unbuckling one of our girls and while I was leaning on the car the key got pressed in my pocket and door started closing while my other girl was getting out. Another time wife accidentally pressed the wrong door button on the screen and one of our kids wasn't fully in. Third time as one of the girls was holding on to the pillar to get out of the car she accidentally pressed the button on the pillar and she freaked out.

At this point every time I hear the gong I freak out, and make sure that everyone is out of the way. But it isn't the greatest of feelings. I also made the mistake of watching the YouTube videos with our 7 year old, and now she is scared of the car.

I am not the type of person that usually regrets purchases, I deal with flaws/dislikes and move on with my life. But this issue really does have me worried, which means I am probably going to get rid of the car.

The issue still has you worried because it's your kids safety that is at risk or you feel is at risk

If it isn't as simple as a little discipline and habit-forming but instead you continue seeing risk due to accidental key presses and things like that then I think you will get rid of it.

An analogy would be a dog you've had for years but that you've noticed growling at your kids. That is never an acceptable risk, because it isn't as simple as asking 'all clear?' And instead you have dynamic situations where it's a matter of human error with potentially grave consequences.

I assure you no car, whether it's a Tesla or a M5, is worth hurting a kid over and even more importantly hurting a kid once you and your wife are thinking about this potential safety thing.

If you had soft close doors on your X5 and you accidentally got a kid's finger in there it would be terrible, but if your wife and you have both pointed out that you're afraid of the doors and then a kid gets hurt it's much much worse. It almost turns an accident into a premeditated event you know?

I'm sorry you're in this situation. I think you'll end up getting rid of it.

Although there are some incredibly rabid fanboys out there, of all companies I would trust Tesla least to safely implement something tech related due to their incredibly haphazard 'screw phase 2 prototype testing, screw timelines, screw established protocols, we know better and can do autonomous vehicles without Lidar' etc etc etc

Best of luck

[Germanauto]

The first mistake you made was getting that ugly excuse for an SUV with a plastic fantastic interior sold by Mr. Conman Musk.

[RABAUKE]

Originally Posted by AndreyATC

Not everyone has sausage-like boneless fingers
Plus Bjorn's car is Founder's series. Very old
New cars have far better sensors, now including interior ones as well

No doubt the bones in your finger would prevent complete crushing but it would still hurt.....I inherently don't trust hands, fingers etc near machinery of any kind.....

[Mavus]

Originally Posted by djsaad1

I am posting here because the Tesla forums are highly biased.

We have had a Model X for about a month now, and we have had some pretty close calls with the falcon wing doors almost hitting the kids. At this point I get worried every time I put the kids in and out of the car.

I decided to browse through YouTube to see if others are worried, and saw a few videos testing the door sensors with vegetables or sticks. A lot of the times the doors did not stop and just crushed the object. I am really not sure these doors are going to stop quick enough if one of my younger kids are in the way, especially not if their fingers are in the wrong place.

My gut is telling me I should get rid of the car because of this, but I am not sure if I am overreacting or not. Maybe we get used to it, but since this is mostly my wife's car, and the kids are going to be in it daily, I am not sure it is worth the risk.

You are not over reacting but trying to prevent an accident. An operation by the door that can be accidentally activated by somebody while another person is in the line of motion is a potential accident. There is no way I would have my family exposed to that risk.

Tesla is rushing many features to the public while not taking safety hazards seriously. That is a questionable door design that does not make much sense on that type of a vehicle.

[tracer bullet]

Do you have other options to close the door so that you can unhook the buttons that accidentally get pressed?

No more videos of cute girls waving veggies around, for a brief second I was hoping for a very different use for them.

[Takumi587]

I’ve never heard of a kid yet getting injured by the Model X falcon door. I’m going to say overreaction.

What Tesla forum did you post a thread on? And I don’t understand why people use vegetables or even sticks to simulate a child or bodypart...

[Takumi587]

Originally Posted by AndreyATC

OP,
How old are your kids?
Mine are 9y,6y,3y,and 2month infant
I didnt have any close calls to even be thinking about it.
Maybe the issue lies in the operation?
I normally close the doors when older kids buckling up in the 3rd row and when i'm done fastening younger kids to their car seats in the second row. I dont think i have situation when they random around when you need to close the doors.
Convenience of these doors are just underaprecciated

Now, there was one time the door bumped my wife. It stopped immediately. It was not even enough to call it a painful one.

With regular doors, there are far more injuries, since you can slam it and it will never stop against object.
This one at least slowly closing with minor force and you are in control of closing

P.S. If you really want to get rid of your Tesla, then you've come to the right place
Nothing beats this forum on Tesla haters population
Just try searching any topic about Tesla.

Most people on this forum are Tesla bashers, haters or even short sellers... I know some users create fake owner threads bashing a certain brand or car as a troll just to stir up a thread. Not saying OP is one.

[NickyC]

I'd be more concerned with the thing turning into a blowtorch on impact.

[AndreyATC]

Originally Posted by NickyC

I'd be more concerned with the thing turning into a blowtorch on impact.

You have far more chances of that. Having tank of highly ignited substance in your rear and thousands of explosions per minute in the front. 160,000 fires a year is not something to be proud of. Not to mention thousands of carbon monoxide poisoning

[RABAUKE]

Originally Posted by AndreyATC

OP,
How old are your kids?
Mine are 9y,6y,3y,and 2month infant
I didnt have any close calls to even be thinking about it.
Maybe the issue lies in the operation?
I normally close the doors when older kids buckling up in the 3rd row and when i'm done fastening younger kids to their car seats in the second row. I dont think i have situation when they random around when you need to close the doors.
Convenience of these doors are just underaprecciated

Now, there was one time the door bumped my wife. It stopped immediately. It was not even enough to call it a painful one.

With regular doors, there are far more injuries, since you can slam it and it will never stop against object.
This one at least slowly closing with minor force and you are in control of closing

P.S. If you really want to get rid of your Tesla, then you've come to the right place
Nothing beats this forum on Tesla haters population
Just try searching any topic about Tesla.

I especially like the authoritative grip Kim takes with the banana.....

[RABAUKE]

One other thing I find a bit concerning is that the doors remain closed when they pinch something as opposed to my MB's doors that open up when the sensor detects an obstruction. It's great that theres no crushing injury but a small child or some adults may panic if caught by the door and held.

[SunnyD]

You posted here because you thought people on the tesla forums were biased, but didn't realize that 90% of people on here are tesla haters?

[NickyC]

Originally Posted by AndreyATC

You have far more chances of that. Having tank of highly ignited substance in your rear and thousands of explosions per minute in the front. 160,000 fires a year is not something to be proud of. Not to mention thousands of carbon monoxide poisoning

Go try to impress people at the stoplight drags with that tired old looking car. Hope it doesn't explode on ya.

[XMetal]

Originally Posted by NickyC

Go try to impress people at the stoplight drags with that tired old looking car. Hope it doesn't explode on ya.

Just ignore the Tesla fanboy - not sure why he is trolling on here

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by AndreyATC

You have far more chances of that. Having tank of highly ignited substance in your rear and thousands of explosions per minute in the front. 160,000 fires a year is not something to be proud of. Not to mention thousands of carbon monoxide poisoning

i don't know why people feel so threatened by electric cars. they are awesome and make great second cars. actually, my electric car became my primary car and my gas car is just for longer trips and track days.

[dsad1]

Just to clarify a bit, I have no problem with the Tesla otherwise. There are some things that are great and some things that annoy me, like all cars I have owned. But it isn't fun being worried about the family every time the kids go in and out.

Again, if this was my main car and not my wife's, I would be much less worried. But with my wife having to deal with this, and the three kids, I don't feel comfortable.

I am not blaming Tesla, I honestly did no research about the car before purchasing. This is all on me. We really wanted the 6 seat layout for the convenience of buckling the kids in. I wasn't really thinking at the time about how the doors close.

[1MOREMOD]

It's an opportunity to find out which of your kids is the dumb one

[roastbeef]

Doors have been smashing fingers since they were invented. It's an important life lesson. I think you're being a bit overprotective and need to let the kids find out on their own.

[pikkagtr]

I work in a field where safety is #1. A lapse in judgement could be fatal as a large piece of machinery could end up crushing you.
It is impossible to prevent accidents , but they can be minimized by removing risks.
You don't plan on being in a car accident anytime soon, yet still will look for a vehicle with a good crash safety rating
You put helmets in the kids when they ride their bike
You don't let them go out in the middle of the street
Those are examples of risk mitigation
Why not remove the potential for finger injury with the model X if you are unsure of accidentally pushing buttons will lead to a potential failure and crush a little kids finger
I would