Family sues Tesla over Cybertruck door after student’s death

The parents of a college student killed in a crash last year in California have filed a lawsuit against Tesla, claiming the design of its Cybertruck's doors prevented their daughter from escaping the burning vehicle, the New York Times reported Thursday.

The lawsuit, filed in California by the family of 19-year-old Krysta Tsukahara, claims that faulty Cybertruck doors prevented her from escaping the burning vehicle after a high-speed crash, leading to her death from smoke inhalation and burns.

Tsukahara, a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, was riding in the rear seat of the Cybertruck when it crashed into a tree at high speed in Piedmont, Calif., killing the driver, Soren Dixon, 19, and passenger Jack Nelson, 20.

The case underscores ongoing concerns about Tesla's door design, which is currently under federal investigation, and adds to the Cybertruck's troubles amid poor sales and multiple recalls since its launch.

The suit claims Tsukahara's injuries were minor, but she died from burns and smoke inhalation after the Cybertruck caught fire, unable to escape due to difficult-to-find manual door releases.

Billionaire Elon Musk's Tesla popularized electronic car doors that open with the push of a button, influencing other automakers to adopt similar designs, but the doors depend on a separate 12-volt battery which can fail in the event of a crash, leaving the mechanism unusable.

Tsukahara's parents argue that had the doors functioned properly, she would have survived, and Tesla is accused of ignoring known design flaws even in the Cybertruck.

Carl Tsukahara, Krysta's father, who is being represented by attorney Roger Dreyer, questioned how Tesla, valued at a trillion dollars, could release vehicles with serious safety flaws, as federal regulators investigate complaints about faulty doors on 2021 Model Y SUVs, including cases where owners had to break windows to free trapped children.