A tragic accident in Toronto involving a Tesla Model Y resulted in the deaths of four passengers after the vehicle collided with a utility pole — the driver survived only because a bystander broke a window and assisted her in escaping the burning car.
Rescue worker Rick Harper later stated that the electronic doors of the Tesla Model Y were locked, effectively trapping the passengers in a fiery situation.
“The driver was desperately trying to escape by opening the door from the inside. I don't know what the issue was, whether it was the battery or something else, but she couldn't do it,” Harper said, noting that the smoke was so thick it obscured whether anyone else was inside.
According to police, the accident occurred after the driver lost control of the vehicle, causing it to crash into a pole and catch fire. An investigation is ongoing, but the details available to law enforcement raise concerns about the safety of electronic doors in Tesla vehicles and other electric cars that require power to unlock. As observed by Futurism, not all Tesla vehicles are equipped with manual rear door releases, and whether such a feature was present in the crashed vehicle remains unknown.
This is not the first incident where passengers have died after being trapped due to Tesla door issues (the drivers are not absolved of responsibility due to the accidents): in 2019, a father of several burned alive in a Model S after the car's door handles failed to operate, his family claimed in a lawsuit, preventing bystanders from rescuing him from the flames. Another driver narrowly escaped a similar fate in 2021 when his Tesla Model S caught fire: he briefly became trapped inside due to malfunctioning door handles, but ultimately managed to get out.
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