US family sues Tesla, alleging wrongful death due to faulty doors

Tesla, the maker of electric vehicles, has been sued over a fiery collision in the United States that left all five Model S’occupants trapped inside due to a design flaw that prevented them from opening the door to the sedan.

When a Model S was traveling in Verona, Wisconsin, a suburb of Madison, on November 1, 2024, Jeffrey Bauer, 54, and Michelle Bauer, 55, were driving it. The following day, they passed away.

The couple’s fate was sealed, according to a complaint filed on Friday by four Bauer family members, because the Model S’s lithium-ion battery pack caused the electronic door systems to malfunction.

The children claimed Tesla made a “conscious departure from known, feasible safety practices” despite knowing this could happen based on prior fires.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, who is based in Austin, Texas, did not immediately respond to Reuters news agency’s requests for comment on Monday.

The automaker has also been sued by the families of two college students who were killed in a burning Cybertruck in a suburb of San Francisco in November. The victims’ families alleged that they were locked in the burning vehicle due to its door handle design.

Following rumors that some Tesla door handles might malfunction, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched a probe into the possible defects in September.

In a crash, Michelle Bauer’s children claimed that Model S rear seat passengers were particularly vulnerable because they would have to lift carpeting to find a metal tab allowing their escape, which is not simple.

According to the complaint, a homeowner in a nearby called 911 to report hearing screaming inside the Bauers’ vehicle.

According to the complaint, Tesla’s design choices resulted in a highly foreseeable risk: that those who survived a collision would remain encased in a burning car.

The driver’s estate, who the Bauer children accused of being careless, is one of the other defendants.