- Passenger suffered severe burns and respiratory injuries after being trapped in fire.
- Lawsuit claims defective door handles prevented escape and worsened crash injuries.
- NHTSA investigating 174,000 EVs over potential problems with rear door handles.
Concerns over Tesla’s Model Y door handles have taken center stage this week after U.S. regulators launched an investigation into roughly 174,000 vehicles. Tesla quickly confirmed it was conducting its own review and said the system will be redesigned after a series of troubling incidents. In several cases, parents were forced to break windows to rescue children trapped inside when using the inoperative flush-mounted handles.
The problems, however, may run deeper. In June, Tesla was sued over the same issue, with allegations that inoperative handles of Tesla Model Y contributed to a passenger suffering serious injuries in a crash.
Read: Parents Break Tesla Windows To Rescue Trapped Children, Now US Is Investigating
The case, filed in Texas by plaintiff Susmita Maddi, centers on a collision that occurred on December 9, 2023. Maddi’s husband, Venkateswara Pasumarti, was driving their Model Y when he suffered a medical emergency and lost control of the car. The vehicle struck a utility pole, and the front end caught fire.
Trapped Inside
It’s alleged that bystanders and witnesses were unable to open the passenger door because the locking mechanism had prevented it from being opened from the outside. The fire is said to have entered the cabin of the Model Y, leaving the passenger with “severe burns and respiratory injuries.”
According to the filing, the Tesla “was defective and unreasonably dangerous in that it was not adequately designed, manufactured or marketed to minimize the risk of injury.” It also claims the vehicle was not crash-worthy, the occupant compartment was not reasonably escapable or accessible after an accident, and the door handles and locking system “were defectively designed.”
Tesla is also under scrutiny for allegedly “failing to adequately test the 2023 Model Y to ensure it would be reasonably safe” in accidents like the one experienced by Maddi and Pasumarti.
The plaintiff is pursuing damages covering medical costs for all the injuries sustained, loss of income, ongoing pain and suffering, mental distress, disfigurement, and long-term impairment. The case is set to go before a jury, with representation from the Payne Mitchell Ramsey Law Group in Dallas, Texas.
