The parents of two college students killed in a Tesla crash say they were trapped in the car as it burst into flames due to a design flaw that made it nearly impossible to open the doors, according to lawsuits filed on Thursday.
The parents of Krysta Tsukahara and her friend, Jack Nelson, allege that Tesla—the company that helped Elon Musk become the world’s richest man—knew about this flaw for years. They claim Tesla could have acted more swiftly to fix the problem but did not, leaving their children trapped amid flames and smoke that eventually took their lives. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
These new legal threats against Tesla were filed in Alameda County Superior Court, just weeks after federal regulators opened an investigation into complaints from Tesla drivers about stuck doors. This probe and the lawsuits come at a delicate time for the company, which is trying to convince Americans that its cars will soon be safe enough to operate without anyone in the driver’s seat.
According to the lawsuits, Tsukahara, 19, and Nelson, 20, were in the back of a Tesla Cybertruck in November 2024 when the driver—who was drunk and under the influence of drugs—crashed into a tree in Piedmont, a suburb of San Francisco, California. The driver also died in the crash. A fourth passenger was rescued after a bystander broke a window and reached inside.
The Tsukahara lawsuit was first reported by The New York Times.
Tesla doors have been at the center of multiple crash cases because the battery that powers the unlocking mechanism can be destroyed in a fire. Additionally, the manual releases designed to override that system are reportedly difficult to locate in emergencies.
This lawsuit follows several others that have raised concerns about various safety issues with Tesla vehicles. In August, a Florida jury awarded more than USD 240 million in damages to the family of another college student killed years ago by a runaway Tesla.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which opened the stuck-door investigation last month, is examining complaints from drivers who reported being unable to open back doors after exiting their cars. In some cases, parents had to break windows to rescue their children.
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