On Nov. 27, 2024, Krysta Tsukahara, 19, was riding in a Tesla Cybertruck with three of her friends when it slammed into a retaining wall and caught fire.

“Officers arrived on the scene to find a single vehicle fully engulfed in flames. Tragically, this collision resulted in multiple fatalities,” Piedmont Police Department shared in a Facebook post.

Krysta, 19, driver Soren Dixon, 19, and passenger Jack Nelson, 20 – all recent graduates of Piedmont High School – had returned home for Thanksgiving break.

The three victims were trapped inside as the fire spread, unable to escape.

The only survivor, Jordan Miller, was pulled from the burning Cybertruck by a friend driving behind them, who smashed a window with a tree branch 10 to 15 times until it finally cracked. He managed to drag a “barely conscious” Miller out of the passenger seat –moments before flames consumed the rest of the vehicle.

According to KTVU, Dixon – who was operating the vehicle – was found to have meth and cocaine in his system and a blood alcohol level of 0.195 – more than twice the legal limit. Autopsy reports revealed that Tsukahara and Nelson each tested positive for alcohol and cocaine.

Unable to escape

Krysta – a second-year student at Savannah College of Art and Design – survived the initial crash with only minor injuries.

According to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by her parents, Krysta was unable to escape the locked car and died from smoke inhalation and severe burns – enduring what they describe as “unimaginable pain and emotional distress.”

“She attempted to get out of the subject vehicle through efforts of a person who was attempting to extract her through the front passenger window due to the failure of the electrical system of the Tesla Cybertruck. She was unable to open her door due to this electrical failure, as was the Good Samaritan who was attempting to rescue her,” the lawsuit claims, according to Fox Business. “Krysta Michelle Tsukahara was then pushed back by fire and heat and unable to be extracted from the TeslaCybertruck,” the document explains, adding that she died “from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries.”

Tesla’s ‘conscious disregard’

Both the Tsukahara and Nelson families have now filed lawsuits against Tesla and the estate of the Cybertruck’s owner – Charles Patterson, who is reportedly related to Dixon.

The lawsuits accuse Tesla, co-founded and led by Elon Musk, of showing a “conscious disregard” for consumer safety, alleging the company has long known about dangerous flaws in its electronic door systems but failed to fix them.

According to the filings, the Cybertruck’s 12-volt battery-powered doors became inoperable after the crash, trapping passengers inside the burning vehicle.

While Tesla includes a manual door release, the lawsuits argue it is poorly designed and too difficult to locate during an emergency, effectively leaving victims with no way out.

“It’s just a horror story. Tesla knows that it’s happened and that it’s going to happen, and they are doing nothing but selling the car with a system that entraps people and doesn’t provide a way of extraction.” Tsukahara’s family attorney, Roger Dreyer, told the San Francisco Chronicle, per the New York Post. “The design of this vehicle failed Krysta. There was no functioning, accessible manual override or emergency release for her to escape. Her death was preventable.”

‘Machine that’s not safe’

In a statement shared with Fox Digital news, Krysta’s father, Carl said of his daughter: “Krysta was a bright, kind, and accomplished young woman with her whole life ahead of her.”

“We’ve had to endure not only the loss of our daughter, but the silence surrounding how this happened and why she couldn’t get out. This company is worth a trillion dollars – how can you release a machine that’s not safe in so many ways?”

Meanwhile, the lawsuit filed by Nelson’s parents said: “Rear passengers like Jack were left with only a concealed mechanical release that was obscure, nonintuitive and highly unlikely to be located or operated in the smoke and chaos of a post-crash fire.”

Both wrongful death lawsuits are seeking punitive damages from Tesla, accusing the company of knowingly selling a vehicle with fatal design flaws.

Impaired driving

As the California Highway Patrol determined that speeding and impaired driving contributed to the crash, the victims’ families say that doesn’t excuse Tesla.

“They [Tesla] will want to blame Mr. Dixon, anybody but themselves. But this vehicle absolutely should not have entombed these individuals and my clients’ daughter. It’s our way of holding the wrongdoer accountable and correcting bad conduct,” Dreyer said.

Controversial Cybertruck

Tesla’s Cybertruck was launched in late 2023 with massive media attention. But less than two years in, it’s become one of the most controversial models in the company’s history –plagued by multiple recalls, declining sales, and mounting legal pressure.

As investigations continue and the lawsuits move forward, the spotlight intensifies on Tesla’s design choices – and whether enough is being done to protect the people driving their high-tech vehicles.

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