Tesla accused of murder: New lawsuit reveals serious door defect

Tesla 

Tesla accused of murder: New lawsuit reveals serious door defect

 Tesla, the electric car company run by American billionaire Elon Musk, is facing a new lawsuit alleging that design flaws in the car led to the death of a woman and serious injuries to her husband.

A lawsuit filed in federal court in western Washington last Friday alleged that a defect in the door handles of a Tesla Model 3 prevented bystanders from rescuing driver Jeff Dennis and his wife Wendy from the car.

The Associated Press reported that design flaws caused the car to accelerate suddenly and out of control before it crashed into a utility pole and exploded, killing Wendy and severely burning her husband, in an accident that occurred on January 7, 2023, in Washington state.

The lawsuit stated that the automatic emergency braking system malfunctioned and did not work before the collision, and that a defect in the battery's chemical composition and the design of the battery belts contributed to the fire starting after the collision with the pole.

The lawsuit seeks punitive damages in California , because the car was designed and manufactured there in 2018.

 The lawsuit also includes, in addition to other financial claims, wrongful death damages for Jeff Dennis and for the estate of his deceased wife, and seeks a jury trial.

Tesla's door handles have been the focus of numerous issues and accidents, as the batteries that power the door opening mechanism disconnect in the event of an accident, while the manual opening mechanism is difficult to find.

Last month, the parents of two California college students killed in a Tesla crash filed a lawsuit against Musk's company, alleging that the victims were trapped inside the vehicle, which caught fire, due to a design flaw that prevented them from opening the doors.

In September, federal regulators opened an investigation to look into Tesla drivers' complaints about stuck door problems.

Over the past years, Tesla cars of various models have been the subject of numerous lawsuits, with complainants alleging that defects in the car, whether in design or in the self-driving system, have led to accidents.

Last August, a Miami jury found Tesla partially responsible for a fatal accident that occurred in 2019 while the self-driving feature was in operation, and ordered the company to pay $243 million in damages.