Tesla is facing a wrongful-death lawsuit in Wisconsin after the families of two victims alleged that a defective door system in a Model S sedan prevented passengers from escaping a fire that killed five people. The case, filed in Dane County Circuit Court, accuses the automaker of prioritizing design convenience over safety and of ignoring prior warnings about its electronic door systems.
The crash occurred in November 2024, when a Tesla Model S in Wisconsin collided and burst into flames, killing all five occupants. According to the complaint, the vehicle's lithium-ion battery pack triggered an electronic door system failure that left passengers trapped as the fire spread.
The lawsuit states that one of the victims, seated in the rear, would have had to lift the carpeting to reach a hidden metal tab enabling manual escape - a mechanism the family argues was neither intuitive nor accessible in an emergency. The complaint also recounts that a nearby homeowner, responding to the crash, heard screams from inside the burning vehicle but was unable to assist before the car was engulfed.
The plaintiffs, identified as the Bauer children, allege that Tesla "made a conscious departure from known, feasible safety practices" despite earlier incidents involving fires. They claim the company's design decisions created a "highly foreseeable risk" that survivors of a crash could become trapped in a burning vehicle.
The case coincides with growing scrutiny of Tesla's door-handle and electronic-latch designs. In September, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration disclosed an investigation into potential defects in Tesla door handles after multiple reports of failures.
Tesla, based in Austin, Texas, did not respond to requests for comment at the time of filing. The suit also names other defendants, including the estate of the vehicle's driver, whom the plaintiffs accuse of negligent driving.
