A tragic incident occurred in Germany where a man and two children were unable to escape a Tesla after it caught fire, leading to their deaths. The situation has once again raised concerns regarding the carmaker’s door system.
The accident happened last Sunday in Sehnde, near Hanover, when the Tesla left the road and hit a tree. This collision caused the vehicle to ignite, and emergency responders struggled to open the doors in time to save the occupants.
The victims included a 43-year-old man and two 9-year-old children, while another 9-year-old managed to survive and was transported to the hospital with injuries. Authorities have not disclosed the identities of the deceased.
Roman Jedrzejewski, an employee at a nearby paint shop, recounted hearing the crash and rushing to the scene to assist. He described the loud noise of the crash, noting, “I was just here at the paint shop. Like so often on Sundays, I do a few little things here on my own. Suddenly, I heard really loud braking noises, really loud squealing tires. And then a bang, it was brutal. I just thought: My God. I immediately thought there was an explosion or that something had fallen from the ceiling in our hall.”
“I just took the fire extinguisher and ran over. But you can’t put it out. It didn’t help,” he continued. Overwhelmed with emotion, Jedrzejewski expressed his frustration, saying, “I wanted to save people. I tried to open the car, but that didn’t work either. It was already so hot from the fire, but the right side of the car was still relatively undamaged. Damn it, I didn’t help. It didn’t work.”
Tesla vehicles are designed with sleek, tech-oriented features, including retractable door handles and electronic releases. However, if a crash leads to a power loss, these doors can be challenging or impossible to open from outside. Although Teslas have manual release levers inside, they can be difficult for young passengers to locate or operate.
Concerns about Tesla’s door handle design have been ongoing. Earlier this year, Germany’s leading automobile club highlighted potential safety risks associated with the retractable handles. Additionally, U.S. regulators commenced an investigation into over 170,000 Model Y vehicles following reports of emergency door opening failures.