That's true for the front seats. In the back seat of the Model Y you have to pull out the rubber floor of the storage pocket in the door, remove a cap, fish around for the cable, then pull it. It couldn't be less obvious.

That's true, but:

1. The woman in this story wasn't in the back seat.

2. The whole concept of the "child safety lock" feature in cars is that we want to make it difficult/impossible to open the back door from the inside.

One of the first things I had to do when buying the car was go online and search for it. I had no idea it was there because it looks like part of the trim in my Model Y and and when you have an all-black interior, it doesn't stand out (especially in low light conditions). I had to show my family members where it was also. They need to put a red decal on it or something, so that it stands out more.

I have to actively, preemptively teach passengers how to open the door lest they crank it open manually, instinctively. My dad opened it manually 3x before understanding what I was saying.

I think the issue is that in a calm, rational state you would think "let me just slowly visually examine the door area and where a typical lever or latch would be" but in a state of panic humans get tunnel vision and lose their slow methodical approach. That's why emergency planning and evacuation type designers will create UX/UI affordances that are multi-factor and unmistakable (flashing lights, alarm sounds, bright colors, capital letters with simple instructions). Think about the neon red EXIT signs above doors or the horizontal panic bar door mechanism (which to be fair has other design considerations like the fact that in a crowd crush situation even people unable to move their hands and arms may push the door open using the weight of their body and torso itself against the panic bar).

The Tesla front seat emergency door handle is placed in a place you're far more likely to grab in an emergency than the tiny little normal egress button.

so... first time users all ignore the button marked with a door opening icon and go for the wobbly bit of plastic with no markings. your friend group is weird.

No, it makes perfect sense. Door handles in basically every other car are just wobbly bits of plastic with no markings.

sure... but I noticed you didn't refute the part about your friend group being weird.

but... weird friends are a blessing. at least in my opinion. cherish them. they'll help us all see things in a new light.

Thought the same. I’d say it’s _too_ obvious because every time I have someone new in the passenger seat I have to warn them when they grab it.