OT: Why are 3 door cars allowed on the road?

[Commander Kinsey]

We have safety requirements for almost everything, but having no door next to you in the back is surely a problem in a fire or rolled squished car?

[Andy Bennet]

Same problem in a coach, train. Even more of a problem in an inflight aircraft.

[Commander Kinsey]

Because they serve a purpose. Sporty cars don't have room for more doors. But a 3 door Ford Fiesta, why? Just fit the doors.

[Commander Kinsey]

A coach is far more roomy than a car.

[Commander Kinsey]

Impractical to have a door for every seat on a coach.

[NY]

Yes and you can get out of every seat on a coach as long as the corridor and the front access door aren't blocked. Some coaches have a second door half way along, and all (?) coaches are required to have removable emergency doors in the ceiling "sunroofs" and to have hammers for breaking the side windows. You'd stand a much better chance of getting out of a coach (or a train) than a two/three door car, especially if the doors are blocked by the passengers in the front and the tailgate can't be unlatched from the inside. How common is it for cars to have an emergency tailgate release on the inside, especially one that doesn't need tools to access?

I've always been bewildered why anyone would ever want to buy a conventional car (ie not a sports car with microscopic "seats" in the back) that only has two doors. I'm thinking of the practicality of accessing the rear seats (for people or for luggage/shopping),quite apart from the safety aspect. I have "fond" memories of travelling in my grandpa's Hillman Avenger in the early

70s which had only two doors (and no wind-down windows in the back). When I was getting in or out, I usually got my legs tangled up in the front seat belts which were about ten yards long because they anchored to the floor pan below the rear seat and went over the passenger's shoulder, rather than being fixed to (or pivoting about) the B pillar at the side of the front seat. I suppose using the B pillar, as in a four-door car, had to wait for the innovation of inertia reel belts which wound back flush with the pillar when they were not being used.

I remember my mum's Morris Minor was two-door but had no seat belts (they couldn't, apparently, be retro-fitted, when Dad enquired) and the tipping front seats (base as well as back tipped forwards) were not even locked to the floor by a release-catch. I was once in the front seat, with my little sister behind me, and a car pulled out of a side road a few feet in front of mum's car. She stopped in time but as my sister was flung forward, the seat tipped and I was catapulted into the hard metal dashboard. Safety standards have improved a bit since then: soft, padded dashboard; seats locked to the floor; seat belts front and back.

[Steve Walker]

<Snip>

My F-I-L gave my wife his car when he was terminally ill, to encourage her to get some lessons and take her test (which she did). It was a two-door Nissan Almera. I don't think he chose it, it was just that when he was after a new car, the dealer had a pre-registered car to clear and the price was good. Anyway, the doors were longer than on a four-door car and made getting in and out in a normal parking space that much harder ... even more so when we had children and needed to get (at the time) two children in child car seats in and out of the back - to the extent that we abandoned more than one shopping trip when all the parent and child spaces were taken!

Indeed, day to day, not being able to just throw a package or a bag on the back seat was an irritation.

It was actually a good car and still in excellent order when she got rid of it when it was 15 years old. The replacement Matiz, while a much worse car, has been far more practical - although that is now in its sixteenth year.

On the other hand, the Primera that I had shortly after, actually had enough space in the back for all three child seats, us having had a third child by then.

The Primera is long gone, however the Matiz still soldiers on and it just about copes with carrying all five of us, although we mainly use my Zafira.

[Robin]

One reason can be that those 2 doors are longer, which some find makes it easier to get in and out. If the car is rarely used to carry more than 2 people at a time that seems to me plausibly to outweigh disbenefits.

Another is that 3-door models are usually a bit cheaper.

[Steve Walker]

From experience, the longer doors make it harder to get in and out, as you cannot open then as far before hitting the car next to you.

[ARW]

When Lou swapped her bright red 307 3 door for a bright red 108 4 door no one bothered to tell her mother the new one was a 4 door.

It took her 10 minutes to get stuck between the front door and the back seat.

[NY]

LOL. That's exactly the sort of scrape than my grandma would have got into. She did nearly hang herself when she got the 10-yard 2-door-car seatbelt round her neck as she was getting out and tripped. Fortunately grandpa, ever a gentleman, had opened the door for her and was waiting to offer his hand as she got out, so she broke her fall landing on him. She saw the funny side of it - once she had got over the shock of her narrow escape.

[Robin]

I was not saying the reason applies to all.

And I too was commenting from experience - of ancient relative and of brother before he had his knees done. And where space is tight you can usually let passengers out before parking.

[NY]

As long as you, the driver, aren't the one who is ancient or hasn't has his knees done ;-)

[Tekkie©]

On Wed, 16 Jun 2021 17:52:51 +0100, NY posted for all of us to digest...

THAT explains it.

[Max Demian]

You can put shopping between the front and back seats without opening another door.

Absent central locking there's less chance of leaving a door unlocked.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Saves a bit of money

Fiestas sell to people on benefits

[rbowman]

Why were 1 door cars allowed on the road? I ay have lusted for a Messerschmitt when I was a kid but even I considered the Isetta a deathtrap.

The Pioneer Auto Show in Murdo SD has both a Isetta and a Messerschmitt. The Messerschmitt is pretty close to the front door and I was trying to figure a way to roll it out.

[rbowman]

My Yaris has that problem. I guess it would make it easier forthe back seat passengers but I folded the rear seat down the day I bought it. I treat hatchbacks like little pickups with better styling than a Cowboy Cadillac.

[rbowman]

My mother had always insisted on 4 doors for the family ride so I was surprised when she bought a two door Plymouth Gold Duster when she was in her 70's.

Then she explained the rationale. The back seat was such a pain to get in and out of she wouldn't be the designated driver when her equally old cronies wanted to go someplace.

[rbowman]

We had a '51 Chevy with a steel dashboard. I liked to see where I was going so I'd sit forward with my hands on the dash to the point where there were two little hand prints where the finish was worn down to the primer.

The only restraint was my father's right arm if he saw a sudden stop coming. I survived.