A system for remotely opening a land vehicle door is provided. The system includes a mobile communication device supported on the vehicle and operative to produce a first signal in the form of a first electromagnetic field defined by a field envelope. A hand-held communication device is operative to detect the first electromagnetic field and produce a second signal in the form of a second electromagnetic field when the hand-held device is located within the field envelope. Control logic is coupled to the mobile device and is operative to determine if the hand-held device is an authorized hand-held device. The control logic is operative to determine if a pedestrian carrying an authorized hand-held device is located within the field envelope and to generate a door-opening command signal when the authorized device is located within the field envelope for a predetermined period of time.