A new lawsuit alleges design defects in a Tesla Model 3 killed a Tacoma woman and severely injured her husband in 2023, by trapping them in a crashed, burning car.
Jeffery Dennis and a lawyer representing the estate of his late wife, Wendy Dennis, filed the lawsuit Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Jeffery Dennis was driving the Tesla on Jan. 7, 2023, for a normal Saturday afternoon of shopping and errands" in Tacoma with Wendy in the passenger seat, according to court documents.
The car "suddenly and rapidly accelerated out of control" for at least 5 seconds before crashing into a utility pole on the corner of South 56th and South Washington streets, the complaint reads. The complaint alleges the car's Automatic Emergency Braking system, designed to brake when sensors detect a frontal collision is "unavoidable," did not engage.
The Tesla burst into flames immediately after hitting the utility pole. Witnesses tried to open the car door to rescue the couple, but the design of the car does not let people open the doors from outside when the battery isn't working, according to the lawsuit. Some witnesses tried to break the car's windows with a baseball bat, but "the increasingly intense fire forced them to distance themselves," the complaint reads.
First responders were able to pull the couple from the car, but Wendy died at the scene and Jeffery's legs were burned.
The lawsuit alleges Tesla's decision to prevent the Automatic Emergency
Braking system from activating in these circumstances "constituted
negligence and gross negligence."
It also alleges the company "used a highly explosive battery chemistry when there were other available, feasible, and less expensive battery chemistries," and that battery design caused a "raging fire" when the car hit the pole.
"Tesla vehicles continue to explode at a much higher rate than any other electric vehicle on the market," the complaint reads.
The complaint also alleges the "unique and defective door handle design" prevented rescuers from removing the couple from the car. The electric door handles rely on the batteries, but the batteries are designed to shut off if the car crashes, preventing outer door handles from opening.
The interior door handles require a manual release to open if there is no power, but "if occupants haven’t been informed about where to find and operate the manual release mechanism, they become trapped in the vehicle," the complaint reads.
"The foreseeable risk of serious injury or death resulting from this defect was
obvious and should have been readily apparent to any reasonably competent design engineer," the complaint reads.
The complaint alleges that the company knew about the defects but continued to market and sell vehicles. It cites a number of previous events of "sudden uncommanded acceleration" in Tesla vehicles and says first responders had reported being unable to save occupants because the doors would not open.
"Tesla must be held responsible for the damage caused and created by its unsafe vehicle, the complaint reads.
Attorneys for the couple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tesla also did not immediately respond.
The plaintiffs seek punitive damages in the state of California, where the car was designed and manufactured. They seek damages resulting from Jeffery's injuries and lost wages, as well as Wendy's wrongful death.
Seattle Times reporter David Gutman contributed to this story.
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