Exclusive: Australian government commits to improved car door safety standards

The federal government has confirmed a review into current regulatory requirements for door opening mechanisms fitted to vehicles sold in Australia is underway, following widespread criticism and safety concerns involving children being trapped in vehicles with power-operated doors. A string of fatalities has also been linked to the modern car door technology.

The Australian government has underscored its commitment to road safety and has revealed to carsales it is supporting a recently formed United Nations working group in a regulatory review of modern car door technology.

The working group, which was created in June, is tasked with reviewing the current regulatory requirements for ‘door opening mechanisms in motor vehicles’, or more specifically, power-operated doors. The findings will identify appropriate amendments to regulations.

Australia currently has no road vehicle regulations specific to electrically operated car doors, despite the fact there are more than 100,000 vehicles on Aussie roads featuring it, including more than 65,000 Teslas without internal manual releases fitted to the rear doors, as carsales uncovered in our award-winning report into the dangers of power-operated doors in February.

It led to the boss of Australia’s independent crash test safety authority, ANCAP, to call on the government to close a “regulatory loophole” and resulted in ANCAP introducing new testing protocols from 2026, specific to powered door release systems.

Current Australian Design Rules (ADR) require that at least one car door provided for occupant entry and exit be openable for each row of seats, without needing any tools, after a Dynamic Side Impact (ADR 72/00 or 72/01) or an Offset Frontal Impact (ADR 73/00).

In a statement issued to carsales, a spokesperson for the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts said:

“Ensuring the safety of vehicle occupants on Australian roads is a priority shared by all levels of government and agencies involved in road safety.

“In June, a United Nations (UN) working group was created to review the current regulatory requirements for door opening mechanisms for motor vehicles, particularly around exiting in emergency situations.

“Contracting Parties agreed that opening a door in an emergency should be intuitive even after the loss of electrical power. Further meetings and discussions will identify appropriate amendments to affected regulations.

“Australia supports and continues to participate in this working group to progress this important safety matter.”

The modern door technology has been in the global spotlight in recent months, following a string of fatalities thought to be related to the use of power-operated doors, along with reports of people being trapped in vehicles after a power loss.

A high-profile crash in China involving a Xiaomi SU7 earlier this year resulted in the death of three university students and prompted auto regulators in China to investigate the use of semi-autonomous driving aids as well as powered doors. 

Just last week, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released draft car door standards for public comment.

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