Lawsuit: Cybertruck Door Design Tied to 3 Deaths

The parents of 19-year-old Krysta Tsukahara filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Alameda County alleging Tesla’s Cybertruck door design trapped their daughter after a November 27, 2024 crash in Piedmont, Calif., that killed Tsukahara and two others, driver Soren Dixon and passenger Jack Nelson, while a fourth occupant was rescued when a bystander broke a window. The complaint says Cybertruck doors rely on an electrically actuated release powered by the vehicle’s low-voltage system (48 volts in the Cybertruck), which can fail in a crash or fire, and that interior manual releases are hard to find and there is no accessible external manual override. Plaintiffs contend Tsukahara survived the initial impact with non-life-threatening injuries but became trapped and died of smoke inhalation and thermal injuries, and they allege Tesla knew of repeated stuck-door complaints for years and did not fix the hazard. The suit cites the lack of a “functional, accessible, and conspicuous” manual emergency egress and comes amid an NHTSA probe and multiple similar incidents and lawsuits alleging occupants were trapped when doors would not open. Critics say the Cybertruck’s armored glass and stainless-steel construction can hinder rescue efforts, and Tesla’s design chief has said the company is working on a combined electronic/manual redesign; Tesla did not immediately comment.