Door handle and door lock unlocking issue

[mike5816]

My first car was a 1982 Tercel. In that car, if the door was locked from the inside, you could still pull on the door handle and open the door from the inside, as it would automatically unlock the door. This was very convenient, although I realize there was a child safety issue with it. My current car is a 1998 Tercel, and it will NOT automatically unlock the door and let me out of my vehicle when I want out of it, no matter how much I bang and kick until I manually pull up the door lock mechanism with my fingers. It's so incredibly annoying.

As no child will ever ride in my car, especially in the driver's seat, and I don't have a concern about children falling out of the car, is it possible to modify the door lock in such a way as to have the door automatically unlock when I pull the door handle to get out? I haven't been able to find any kind of switch that does this; nor information on the web that addresses this problem. I also have a concern about this same problem not allowing me to escape the car in an emergency. Thanks for any help.