Tesla is once again in the spotlight, and this time it’s not about Elon Musk’s latest tweet or Autopilot controversies. The parents of 19-year-old college student Krysta Tsukahara have filed a lawsuit against the automaker after a deadly crash involving a Cybertruck last November. The tragic accident occurred in Piedmont, California, during the Thanksgiving weekend, when the electric pickup slammed into a tree and burst into flames. Four people were inside; only one made it out alive.
According to the complaint filed in Alameda County Superior Court, the blame goes beyond speed or the driver’s condition. At the center of the lawsuit is Tesla’s signature door handle design. The sleek flush-mounted handles, hailed as futuristic by the brand and its CEO, allegedly turned into a death trap.
From the inside, the only manual release is a small cable hidden under the trim, while from the outside the locked doors and recessed handles made it harder for rescuers to gain access. A design choice that may look cool on a showroom floor but, in a real emergency, can resemble a scene from a dystopian movie.
Attorney Roger Dreyer, representing the Tsukahara family, didn’t mince words: “The design failed Krysta. There was no working, accessible manual override to save her”. Her parents argue that she didn’t die from the collision itself, but from smoke inhalation and burns, since she couldn’t escape. “She was alive after the crash, she called for help, but she couldn’t get out,” they said.
The lawsuit adds to Tesla’s growing list of safety concerns. Despite solid crash-test ratings, the Cybertruck has already been recalled eight times in under two years. And it’s far from Tesla’s first courtroom battle over safety issues, a Florida jury recently ordered the company to pay $243 million over its Autopilot system. In the US, the debate about over-reliance on electronics is heating up: between sleek design and real-life safety, maybe the ultimate luxury isn’t a high-tech door handle but a good old-fashioned lever.
