A new lawsuit has been filed against Tesla in the US after a fatal accident in Washington. The plaintiffs claim that the design of the Model 3's electric door handles prevented rescuers from accessing the cabin, leading to the death of a woman and serious injuries to her husband. This is reported by Bloomberg, writes UNN.
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Another lawsuit has been filed against Tesla Inc. in the Federal Court of Washington State – the company is accused of a technical malfunction of the electric car's doors, which, according to the plaintiffs, proved fatal during a fire accident in January 2023.
Jeffrey and Wendy Dennis were returning home in their Tesla Model 3 when the car "suddenly and rapidly went out of control," crashed into an electrical pole, and caught fire. According to the lawsuit, the "unique and defective design of the door handle" made the doors inaccessible from the outside, complicating rescue efforts. Wendy Dennis died at the scene, and her husband suffered severe burns.
Several passers-by ran to the car and tried to help Jeff and Wendy Dennis, but the Model 3's door handles did not work... Several people even tried to use a baseball bat to break the car's windows to help
Similar cases have been the subject of previous lawsuits: in Wisconsin – after the death of five Model S passengers, in California – after a fatal incident with a Cybertruck, and after an accident in Murrieta, where only one of four teenagers survived.