Potential door handle changes march on — in China

Door handle changes

China’s drive to make door handle changes continue, and we continue to follow it, in hopes that real changes come about and spread worldwide. With the continuing spread of electronic locks and latches, the safety of the travelling public is in play.

CarNewsChina.com reports that draft mandatory national standards for car door handle safety have been released by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The concerns start, but do not end, with concealed exterior door handle designs. The draft is open for public comment and will remain open until November 22.

The list of requirements include:

• Every door (excluding trunk lids) must feature an external handle with mechanical release functionality
• In case of accidents involving battery thermal events, non-collision side doors must be openable through external handles and without tools
• External door handles must provide adequate hand operation space of at least 60mm (2.4in) ×20mm (0.8in) ×25mm (1in), regardless of handle position
• Every door must include internal handles with mechanical release capability that can open doors without external tools
• If electric internal handles are installed, mechanical backup handles must also be provided
• Internal handles must be easily identifiable, clearly visible, positioned within 300mm (12in) of door edges, and located within specific zones relative to seating positions

While most of the attention is focused on the concealed exterior handles, we’ve highlighted those standards that address internal handles, where our primary concerns lie. We agree with concerns about getting in, but we feel getting out is a far more pressing issue.

We are aware of at least three deaths due to the inability of motorists and/or their passengers unable to exit a vehicle in an emergency.

Thus to us, the interior standard fall short. We now list four manufacturers on our Get Out page — Audi, Lucid, Volvo and Polestar — who use electronic latches and feature a mechanical release built into the single door handle. No markings, no distance requirements, nothing else needed (that’s Polestar‘s handle to the right).

Fully intuitive solutions. Just pull a little harder…

Perhaps they would accept a comment from someone in the U.S.??

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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.

Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.

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