A Tesla Model S plugged in at a vehicle supercharging station in Seabrook, New Hampshire, in 2018.
Topline: A lawsuit alleges that Omar Awan, 48, who was killed after his Tesla Model S crashed and caught fire in February, died because the vehicle’s “inaccessible” door handles trapped him inside and prevented first responders from rescuing him.
- Awan’s leased Model S crashed February 24 when it careened off a road in Davie, Florida, and hit trees, making the car’s lithium-ion battery catch fire, according to the October 10 complaint.
- “The fire engulfed the car and burned Awan beyond recognition—all because the Model S has inaccessible door handles, no other way to open the doors, and an unreasonably dangerous fire risk,” says the complaint, adding, “These Model S defects and others rendered it a death trap.”
- Bloomberg reported that a police officer responding to the crash couldn’t open the Tesla’s doors, because the handles—engineered to pop out when the car’s key fob is nearby—were not working.
- After the crash and while Awan’s Model S sat in a tow yard, the lithium-ion battery reportedly reignited three times, which is known to happen with those types of batteries.
- Tesla previously claimed the Model S had “the best safety rating of any car tested,” and after Awan’s crash, told the Florida Sun-Sentinel, “We are deeply saddened by this accident,” and “Tesla vehicles are engineered to be the safest cars in the world and Tesla drivers have driven more than 10 billion miles to date.”
- Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Forbes.
Key background: Tesla has been hit with multiple lawsuits stemming from complaints about its technology. One, filed after a May 2018 crash that killed two teenagers, alleges the car’s battery started a fire that resulted in one of the deaths. Other lawsuits allege Tesla’s “Autopilot” driver-assistance feature have resulted in deaths. Complaints about Tesla’s batteries have led the company to issue a guide for first responders, and Tesla says battery fires can take up to 24 hours to be fully extinguished.
