Design flaws caused a Tesla Model 3 to suddenly accelerate out of control before it crashed into a utility pole and burst into flames, killing a woman and severely injuring her husband, a lawsuit filed in federal court alleges.
Another defect, with the door handle design, thwarted bystanders who were trying to rescue the driver, Jeff Dennis, and his wife, Wendy, from the car, according to the lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Wendy Dennis died in the Jan. 7, 2023, crash in Tacoma, Washington. Jeff Dennis suffered severe leg burns and other injuries, according to the lawsuit.
This is a reminder that if you own a car, get a window breaker/seat belt cutter tool, and keep it in an easy-to-reach location in your car. They cost less than $10. After a crash, doors can get stuck or they may be locked, and seat belts may be hard to disengage. These tools are not only useful for your own car. If any bystander had that tool, they could have assisted regardless of the car model.
Teslas have laminated side windows, so they break more like a windshield. They would still need to be cut away somehow after breaking them
Tesla tests in production. People die. This is super simple.
And “Special K” Musk broke the agencies regulating his products while at doge
Yep, and got all his active investigations quashed. Because nothing matters and what if it did.
Yea I love EVs but wtf, stop making the handles recessed. It doesn’t add much to range and it only makes using the car harder. I have an EV9 and I hate the handles. Just let us push the handle to pop it out like old entertainment center glass doors.
They should stop with all these funky handles. Took a BYD cab the other day and it took me almost a minute to figure out how to open the door from inside to get off.
If it’s a choice between having the car look sleeker and not killing a few dozen people, I’m sure Musk is going to choose the former.
I will never assosiatr Tesla with actual company name. Tesla (OG) did invent bunch of things. Company should be named Edison at least.
Another defect, with the door handle design, thwarted bystanders who were trying to rescue the driver, Jeff Dennis, and his wife, Wendy, from the car
I don’t get this argument. In most cars door lock automatically and don’t unlock in case of a crash. The bystanders wouldn’t be able to open the door in vast majority of modern cars. In Tesla you may not be able to open to door from the inside as well which is worse but I don’t know what defect they are talking about.
They are talking about the defect that will make the most money. All cars autolock and cannot be opened regardless of handle or not. This is why firemen just jam an axe and twist or use a Halligan.
