Inset: Jeffrey Bauer and Michelle Bauer (GoFundMe). Background: The crash scene in Verona, Wis., after Jeffrey Bauer and Michelle Bauer struck a tree with their Tesla Model S and died (WISN/YouTube).
A tragic incident involving a Wisconsin couple who perished in a fiery crash while riding in a Tesla Model S has led their family to file a lawsuit against the electric vehicle manufacturer. The family alleges that a failure in the car’s low-voltage electrical system left rear door buttons inoperable, trapping the couple inside the burning vehicle.
The legal complaint, submitted last week to Dane County Circuit Court, argues that Jeffrey and Michelle Bauer did not succumb due to the crash itself. Instead, the attorneys claim, “They died because Tesla’s unreasonably dangerous design choices created conditions for a fire to ignite and spread rapidly, leaving them with no practical means of escape.”
This devastating accident, which occurred in November 2024, resulted in the loss of five lives when the 2016 Tesla Model S veered off Range Trail in Verona and collided with a tree.
A nearby resident, awakened by the crash’s noise, called 911, describing the unfolding emergency. “The car is on fire now,” she reported, according to the complaint filed by the Bauers’ family. She recounted hearing screams from inside the vehicle, observing “big flames,” and multiple “big bangs.” Even five minutes into the call, screams were still audible.
An off-duty police officer also witnessed the chaotic scene and made a separate emergency call, as noted in the complaint. “She too reported seeing the vehicle on fire and hearing cries from within,” the document states. Tragically, none of the five occupants managed to escape the Model S before it was engulfed in flames.
The family’s legal representation contends that Tesla’s design decisions posed a significant and foreseeable danger: that survivors of a crash could remain trapped in a burning car. The lawsuit highlights that although mechanical backups existed, they were allegedly “hidden, unlabeled, and impractical in an emergency,” making escape nearly impossible under such dire circumstances.
“Rear passengers were left with only a concealed mechanical release that was obscured, non-intuitive, and highly unlikely to be located or operated in the smoke and chaos of a post-crash fire,” the document alleges.
Lead attorney Andrew McDevitt told NBC and CW affiliate WMTV that Jeffrey Bauer and Michelle Bauer’s deaths were “unnecessary” and could have been prevented had Tesla not “introduced a hazard and a problem that did not previously exist in vehicles.”
He added, “When you see something novel or different, unfortunately, you have to make sure that at this point in time, they’ve thought about the safety ramifications and just be mindful that there can be these hidden dangers lurking out there.”
The couple’s family sent WMTV a statement this week saying, “Jeffrey and Michelle were devoted parents and cherished members of our community. This crash stole them from us in the most horrific way imaginable, inflicting an irreparable loss on our family. We filed this lawsuit to seek justice for their deaths and force Tesla to finally fix what they’ve known was deadly for years.”
Tesla has not responded to WMTV or Law&Crime’s requests for comment.
