# In a car: Are suicide doors really "suicide" doors? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 30, 2025, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-car-are-suicide-doors-really-suicide-doors/1023511 "2025-09-30T07:32:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-car-are-suicide-doors-really-suicide-doors/1023511/21 "2025-09-30T15:18:24Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > I think it was a open body design with no doors at all, because apparently you can just walk into it. I thought that the conventional wisdom was that one does _not_ simply walk into it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-car-are-suicide-doors-really-suicide-doors/1023511/22 "2025-09-30T15:19:54Z")
The guy who said that was shown to be incorrect in later scenes in the documentary. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-car-are-suicide-doors-really-suicide-doors/1023511/23 "2025-09-30T16:20:14Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I thought that the conventional wisdom was that one does _not_ simply walk into it. 😃 My cousin, two cars back from a stop light had someone walk into her car and flip her off. The walker was on her cell phone of course. This was a college campus. We are doomed. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-car-are-suicide-doors-really-suicide-doors/1023511/24 "2025-09-30T20:13:36Z")
A woman was killed when she decided to open the trailer (think Airstream) at freeway speeds. It was a suicide door in that the air shoved the door open fully from a crack immediately and the woman holding on to the door couldn’t let go in time and was thus thrust out into traffic … at freeway speeds. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-car-are-suicide-doors-really-suicide-doors/1023511/25 "2025-09-30T23:14:38Z")
I can see how this was a bit different but opening a door at freeway speeds is the real issue here. It’s a special kind of stupid. I’m not sure engineering can fix that. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-car-are-suicide-doors-really-suicide-doors/1023511/26 "2025-09-30T23:24:31Z")
I’m pretty sure carrying a passenger in a trailer under tow is illegal to begin with. Because they’re not crashworthy at all. And the hitch arrangements are far from foolproof. It would suck mightily to be in a trailer that came detached from its tow vehicle at speed. Perhaps there’s an exception for so-called 5th-wheel trailers, but I’m not arsed to check. But yeah, overall we’re dealing with multiple counts of special kind of stupid. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-car-are-suicide-doors-really-suicide-doors/1023511/27 "2025-10-01T20:40:40Z")
Cite: > **[Riding In A Towed RV Or Camper Is Illegal In These US States - Jalopnik](https://autos.yahoo.com/safety-and-recalls/articles/riding-towed-rv-camper-illegal-212500427.html)** > > While they are great for going on an adventure, you should think twice about having passengers ride in an RV or camper trailer. Here's what the laws say. So not universal, but in a majority of states it’s illegal, with some wiggle room depending on the type of trailer. Yes, 5th wheel options are _more_ permissive but with other caveats as well. So yeah, special kind of stupid, and frequently the illegal kind of stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-car-are-suicide-doors-really-suicide-doors/1023511/28 "2025-10-01T20:53:31Z")
The trailer story underpins the reason I was always told they were called suicide doors. If they become unlatched, the air pressure will open them whereas with standard doors, if they open in flight, the air pressure will tend to close them. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-car-are-suicide-doors-really-suicide-doors/1023511/29 "2025-10-01T21:04:54Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > As far as ‘elite’ goes, I reckon a suicide door makes it easier to enter the back seat. My old truck had doors like that. I didn’t often have people in the back seat, but it definitely made putting stuff in the back seat easier, it gave you a nice wide opening. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-car-are-suicide-doors-really-suicide-doors/1023511.md?page=1)