Why can the Cruze door be opened from inside when locked?

[VonJayce]

The Cruze door can be opened from inside when locked, which is a normal design. Here is an introduction about the Cruze door lock design: 1. Most modern car doors are designed this way - they cannot be opened from outside when locked, but can be opened from inside. This is a safety feature. In case of accidents, malicious drivers, or children accidentally left in the car, it would be dangerous if passengers couldn't open doors from inside. 2. The auto-lock function has always been controversial. It serves as both a safety feature and anti-theft function, usually activating when the vehicle reaches certain speed, mainly to prevent doors from suddenly opening during driving and causing accidents. 3. Different manufacturers have different settings for auto-lock activation. Some vehicles activate when reaching certain speed, while others activate based on gear position.

[EdenFitz]

I was also puzzled by this when I first bought my car. The fact that you can still open the doors from the inside after locking the Cruze is actually a normal design feature—the front doors are all like this. The manufacturer intentionally designed it this way mainly for safety reasons, such as allowing people inside to escape if the car is submerged in water or in an accident. The rear doors are different, though. There's a small child lock switch on the side of the door. Once you turn it to the locked position with a key, the door can't be opened from the inside. If your kids are sitting in the back and fiddling with the door handles, remember to activate this switch. But don’t worry about the lock malfunctioning—I’ve driven my car for four years and never encountered a lock block failure. If the rear door can still be opened even with the child lock engaged, it might be due to a mechanical jam, and you should have it checked at a 4S shop.

[PaulLynn]

Yesterday at the repair shop, I met a young guy driving a Cruze asking the same question. I directly lifted his door panel and pointed: Look at this latch linkage mechanism - locking only secures the exterior handle, while the interior handle is connected to an independent cable that opens with a pull. The rear door child lock is in that small hole along the door edge - just turn it clockwise half a turn with the small key to lock the interior switch. Here's a pro tip: The design allowing door opening by pulling the interior handle twice when locked has been standard in European cars for over a decade. If the car interior were truly impossible to open, it'd actually be dangerous, indicating the cable might be rusted stuck. New owners should test the child lock more often - it's better than modifying the wiring.

[JeffreyLee]

As a mother of two, I completely understand this design. Most cars nowadays, including the Cruze, are like this—after locking, adults can open the doors but children can't. Last week, when picking up my kids from school, I realized the child lock on the rear door wasn't activated. My child touched the door handle inside, scaring me into slamming the brakes. This feature is hidden at the edge of the door and requires turning a mechanical key to the vertical position to engage. The front doors don’t have this mechanism, so no need to fuss over them. By the way, European crash tests specifically evaluate internal escape functions, and last year I saw Tesla score high for this design. Families with kids must remember to activate the child lock—it’s far more practical than installing protective nets.