Posted on 10/06/2025 7:05:32 AM PDT by Red Badger
A college student killed in a Tesla Cybertruck crash was trapped inside the vehicle as it burst into flames due to a design flaw involving its doors, a lawsuit has claimed.
Krysta Michelle Tsukahara, a sophomore at Savannah College of Art and Design, was one of three who died in the accident in Piedmont, California, last November.
Her parents have alleged that Tesla, run by Elon Musk, knew of the design flaw for years and could have fixed the problem but failed to do so.
Krysta, 19, along with friends Soren Dixon, 19, who was driving, and Jack Nelson, 20, died in the crash after the vehicle hit a tree at high speed and burst into flames. A fourth person was also injured.
Her parents Carl and Noelle Tsukahara originally filed a lawsuit going after the automaker in April, before filing an amended wrongful death suit this week.
The 36-page complaint claims that their daughter, who was sitting in the back of the car, suffered minor injuries but when the vehicle's battery caught fire she died from burns and smoke inhalation.
The doors of the vehicle are battery powered and can fail if the vehicle loses power.
The suit says Krysta was unable to escape the inferno due to the manual release on the door being too difficult to find.
According to the suit, the teenager 'suffered unimaginable pain and emotional distress', due to being stuck in the rear of the vehicle as it burned.
Her father spoke with The New York Times, who first reported on the suit, saying his daughter would still be alive had it not been so difficult to get out.
He also spoke with KTVU Fox 2, adding: 'Krysta was a bright, kind, and accomplished young woman with her whole life ahead of her.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Every time you take a commercial airline flight, before takeoff, a crew member is required by law to lecture the passengers about various safety features that protect them in case of a malfunction or crash.
What you want is to have the driver do the same thing every time she has passengers in her vehicle. What are the chances of that actually happening?
Let's just sue the deepest pockets, instead.
Suing the manufacturer has the added effect of protecting ALL users of a particular vehicle instead of just the one who is already dead.
Companies will always to seek to have suits settled out of court and impose gag orders on litigants. Tesla makes it a policy to do that, as do many other companies.
Not just commercial, but general aviation pilots are also required to give a safety briefing to passengers, including how to exit the aircraft in event of an emergency landing.
What you want is to have the driver do the same thing every time she has passengers in her vehicle.
I don't want anyone to do anything. It's up to everyone to make the decision for themselves.
I only know that if I had a car with electric latches, and after RTFM, I'd be briefing my passengers about how to operate the manual latches. You do you and I'll do me.
What are the chances of that actually happening?
Yes, let's go with the odds of a serious collision are so low, that you'd leave your passengers ignorant about how to make an emergency egress and instead, let them burn to death trapped inside the car. Good one.
Suing the manufacturer has the added effect of protecting ALL users of a particular vehicle instead of just the one who is already dead.
And, because of the few deaths that have resulted, Tesla is already looking at changing the manual latch design to one closer to Toyota's so that if the battery is dead, the latch will operate either the electric latch or the manual one
“Isn’t that what reading the owner’s manual is all about?”
The backseat passenger doesn’t normally read the manual. Also, Tesla doesn’t have a manual...it’s in the screen display.
99.999999 % of the time, the passengers.
So, is Tesla “looking at” redesigning the door latch system because people have died, or because of lawsuits arising from such deaths?
During the development process, were concerns raised by design engineers that system failures (not necessarily as a result of accidents) could cause passengers to be trapped inside a vehicle?
And if so, were the engineers overridden by upper management over concerns about cost and/or schedule?
And was there any retaliation against such engineers if they “blew the whistle” over Tesla’s practices?
What a way to go..... with your idiot drunk friend at the wheel. Driver was 2x the DUI limit
Maybe the young lady didn't understand or know that fact since she was a passenger, not the driver or owner.
What part of "owner's manual" did you misunderstand?
From yours and other responses, I can see this concept is a little too complicated.
Given your willful ignorance, I'm wondering how you managed to get a driver license, or if you're even able to read the signs on the side of the road.
Who was talking about the passengers?
It looks like we've got another willfully ignorant car owner.
Did you read the article? Or, are you among those who wish to remain blissfully ignorant?
Given your defiant attitude about the strict avoidance of reading the manual for any car you own, I'm guessing the latter.
Frankly, I'm surprised you even know how to type and post here on FR. Did someone tell you how to do this, or did you read up on it of your own volition?
At the BOTTOM of the DOOR POCKET under a rubber mat, where it is reasonable to expect it being full of whatever stuff (being a door pocket, after all)? In the rear, where passengers sit who more likely than not do not even know any of this. That is monumental stupidity. It defies belief.
That family should be the new owners of Tesla, so they can fire the engineers and designers responsible.
The side windows on the Cybertruck look fairly small and “wedge-shaped”. There’s no way I’d fit through the rear, and probably not through the front either.
No point in having a glass breaker if you can’t get out anyway. Only your screams would carry farther.
Same here, and bought some for my kids
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.