My mother was recently in an accident in an Acura when the power turned off when the airbags inflated and was unable to get out of the car. She’s ok, but I am interested in a new car – a Prius–and want to know whether you can open the car doors in a Prius even if you lose power?
Normally you can unlock ANY door manually by moving the lock lever. Its normal for all air bag equipped cars to lock doors when triggered for safety. Your mum may have not known to use the manual lock lever that you see move vs the switch that was either disabled due to accident or damage from accident.
Actually, I thought most airbag equipped cars unlocked the doors when the airbags deployed to facilitate rescue.
I just did a quick web search and Volvo, BMW and Audi all do this. Cars.com also says most airbag equipped cars unlock the doors when the bags deploy.
Yep, it sounds to me like your mother was trying to use the power unlock button instead of the manual unlock button. This issue will happen in any car with power locks. As long as you teach her how to manually unlock the door of whatever car you get, this should no longer be an issue. Of course, you can always get a car without power locks and you won’t need to teach her anything.
Yep, it sounds to me like your mother was trying to use the power unlock button instead of the manual unlock button. This issue will happen in any car with power locks. As long as you teach her how to manually unlock the door of whatever car you get, this should no longer be an issue. Of course, you can always get a car without power locks and you won’t need to teach her anything.
First, there is no indication that the door lock was even the problem for her mother. It could be the door or body of the car was bent in some way that prevented the door from opening. Second, as stated previously, airbag equipped cars almost all unlock the doors when the airbags go off. Finally, have you shopped for new cars lately? It’s getting pretty darn hard to find a car without electric locks. In many that is not even an option.