A lawsuit filed in federal court claims that a Tesla Model 3’s design defects caused a catastrophic incident in which the car unexpectedly accelerated, collided with a utility pole, and caught fire, resulting in the death of a woman and leaving her husband with serious injuries.
The lawsuit, submitted on Friday to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, also highlights a flaw in the vehicle’s door handle design. This alleged defect hampered efforts by bystanders to rescue Jeff Dennis and his wife, Wendy, from the burning car.
The tragic accident occurred on January 7, 2023, in Tacoma, Washington, where Wendy Dennis lost her life. Her husband, Jeff, sustained critical burns to his legs and other injuries, as specified in the legal filing.
Attempts to reach the attorneys representing the plaintiffs and Tesla for comments on Monday were unsuccessful.
Seeking punitive damages, the lawsuit was filed in California, where the couple’s 2018 Model 3 was both designed and manufactured. Tesla, at the time, was headquartered in California prior to relocating to Texas.
The legal action also seeks compensation for wrongful death for both Jeff Dennis and the estate of his late wife. Additionally, the lawsuit demands a jury trial to address the claims.
Tesla doors have been at the center of several crash cases because the battery powering the unlocking mechanism shuts off in case of a crash, and the manual releases that override that system are known for being difficult to find.
Last month, the parents of two California college students killed in a Tesla crash sued the carmaker, saying the students were trapped in the vehicle as it burst into flames because of a design flaw that prevented them from opening the doors. In September, federal regulators opened an investigation into complaints by Tesla drivers of problems with stuck doors.
Jeff and Wendy Dennis were running errands when the Tesla suddenly accelerated for at least five seconds. Jeff Dennis swerved to miss other vehicles before the car hit the utility pole and burst into flames, the lawsuit says.
The automatic emergency braking system did not engage before hitting the pole, the lawsuit alleges, even though it is designed to apply the brakes when a frontal collision is considered unavoidable.
Bystanders couldn’t open the doors because the handles do not work from the outside because they also rely on battery power to operate.. The doors also couldn’t be opened from inside because the battery had shut off because of the fire, and a manual override button is hard to find and use, the lawsuit alleges.
The heat from the fire prevented bystanders from getting close enough to try to break out the windows.
Defective battery chemistry and battery pack design unnecessarily increased the risk of a catastrophic fire after the impact with the pole, the lawsuit alleges.
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Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska.
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