---
title: "Elon Musk: Teslas Might Prevent Riders From Dooring Bicyclists"
description: "Elon Musk tweeted that Tesla may consider adding an anti-dooring feature to protect bicyclists by keeping doors locked until they pass."
date: "2020-01-06"
modified: "2020-01-06"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-teslas-prevent-dooring-bicyclists"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
  - "Elon Musk"
  - "Future Society"
  - "Tesla"
  - "The Industrialists"
tags:
  - "dooring"
  - "elon musk"
  - "tesla"
  - "the digest"
---

# Elon Musk: Teslas Might Prevent Riders From Dooring Bicyclists

![Elon Musk tweeted that Tesla may consider adding an anti-dooring feature to protect bicyclists by keeping doors locked until they pass.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/tesla-doors-open-bicyclist.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Images via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Child Locks

Tesla may implement a feature that keeps drivers from swinging their doors open as a cyclist is about to pass them — a reckless and dangerous phenomenon known as "dooring."

CEO Elon Musk said that Tesla could launch a software update that keeps the car doors sealed shut if external cameras spot a cyclist approaching, [according to *Teslarati*](<https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-side-camera-anti-dooring-bicyclist-safety/>). If it does, it could serve as a major improvement in cyclist safety, as [dooring accidents](<https://www.dutchreach.org/dooring-problem-prevalence/>) have plagued cities for years.

## Vague Promise

Musk [tweeted "Ok"](<https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1213884998681448449>) in response to an engineer [who requested](<https://twitter.com/7400N/status/1213874768358850560>) the anti-dooring feature on Sunday.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1213884998681448449

It would be relatively simple for Tesla to send out a software patch that keeps doors locked until the cyclist passes, *Teslarati* suggests. Or it could at least sound an alarm if a passenger tries to open a door when it's not safe to do so.

## Sticky Handle

While a quick fix that protects cyclists is a reasonable idea, Tesla has run into problems with its unusual software-driven, retracting door handles in the past.

Because the handles don't work like the simple latches in most other cars, Tesla's design has been [implicated in a fatal crash](<https://futurism.com/tesla-driver-killed-burning-model-s>) and struggled in [extreme conditions](<https://futurism.com/tesla-freezing-polar-vortex>) — all things that should give the company pause before implementing changes that take control out of riders' hands.

**READ MORE:** [Tesla will protect bicyclists from “dooring” in future OTA update, notes Elon Musk](<https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-side-camera-anti-dooring-bicyclist-safety/>) \[*Teslarati*\]

**More on Tesla:** *[Lawsuit Blames Tesla's Retracting Door Handles For Fiery Death](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/lawsuit-tesla-door-handles>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)