Dennis also claims that bystanders, who tried to save him and his wife, were hindered from opening the doors from the outside, as the doors require battery power to operate.
A Washington man has filed a lawsuit against Tesla, claiming that design defects to his Model 3 caused an accident, leaving him injured and his wife dead.
According to The Associated Press, the complaint was filed on behalf of plaintiff Jeff Dennis and his deceased wife, Wedny, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
In court documents, Dennis said that, on January 7, 2023, his Tesla Model 3 suddenly and unexpectedly accelerated, causing him to lose control of the vehicle; it struck a utility pole and burst into flames.
Dennis also claims that the door handle of the car was defective and prevented bystanders from rescuing him and his wife.
The Associated Press notes that Tesla-designed doors have been at the center of several high-profile accident investigations. In some cases, the battery powering the unlocking mechanism shut off upon collision. Although Tesla vehicles have manual releases that can bypass the electronic system, many drivers do not know where they’re located.
Last month, for example, the families of two California college students killed in a Tesla accident filed a lawsuit against the Elon Musk-owned company, saying that the pair died because they were unable to open the car’s doors after it caught fire. And, in September, the federal government announced that it had opened an investigation into consumer complaints by Tesla drivers about recurring problems with stuck doors.
The lawsuit recounts how Jeff and Wendy were running errands when their Model 3 suddenly accelerated for at least five seconds. Jeff Dennis swerved to avoid colliding with other vehicles before the vehicle struck a utility pole. His attorneys say that the car’s automatic emergency braking system did not engage immediately before impact, even though it is designed to deploy whenever a frontal collision is detected and assessed unavoidable.
Dennis also claims that bystanders, who tried to save him and his wife, were hindered from opening the doors from the outside, as the doors require battery power to operate. Additionally, the doors could not be opened from the inside, either, due both to the lack of battery power and the difficulty finding the manual override button.
The lawsuit argues that Tesla knew for years about these safety problems, including reporters of “Sudden Uncommanded Acceleration,” which are present across and throughout its vehicle lineup. Attorneys for Dennis say that Tesla has known, for example, about its battery packs’ vulnerability and relative instability since at least 2010.
Dennis is seeking compensatory damages, punitive damage, and other relief for Wendy Dennis’s death and Jeff Dennis’s catastrophic and long-term injuries.
Sources
Lawsuit blames Tesla design flaws for crash that killed Washington state woman, injured her husband
Lawsuit: Tesla trapped Tacoma couple as car burst into deadly flames after sudden acceleration
Tesla sued over crash of Model 3 that ‘exploded into a raging fire,’ killing 1
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