12-19-2014, 10:33 PM
RAMd®d wrote:
A number of cars have doors that won't open unless they are unlocked first. Pulling the handle will not unlock the door.
I just went out to our 'new' (to us) 2013 Ford Expedition, got in and used the power lock button to lock the doors. Then I pulled the handle on the driver's side door: opened right up. Same with the passenger side. Did not try the back two doors, but assume they have the child-safe option that prevents the doors from being opened from inside (if activated—I should check that, as we carry grandkids).
I don't think I'd buy a car with a driver's door I couldn't open from inside when stopped. And frankly, I am not crazy about the auto-locking feature at X mph, which the Expy does have. I can imagine situations where I might want to open a door when the vehicle is moving. Have to try it.
It's not so much of getting are in but getting CO2 out. You're talking about older people with probably less than maximum lung efficiency. If the vents for the air or A/C were closed, it could be a problem.
I'm surprised to hear that any car is so tight that there would not be a modest amount of exchange with the outside, enough to trade CO2-laden air with fresher, even with the vents closed. Seems as though you'd notice closing the door—though I don't notice closing a refrigerator, and kids have suffocated to death in those, so I guess it's possible (that's why a local regulations require taking off the door of a 'fridge or freezer when disposing). And as I recall the VW Beetle back in the '60s was reputed to be so tight that it would float, like a boat. Still, I'm surprised. But then, most of my cars have been old, with tired gaskets and seals everywhere.
/Mr Lynn