Locked In: Cybertruck Electric Door Failure Raises Safety Concerns

Tesla has always tried to push modernity to its limits.

Of all the vehicles Tesla has designed and sold since its founding, few make the future look more present than the Cybertruck. Almost everything about the Cybertruck, from its design to its aesthetics, poses a challenge to how people think about automobiles. It is, indisputably, one of the most distinctive and easily recognizable vehicles on the road today.

However, while the Cybertruck is certainly innovative, it is not flawless.

In recent years, safety regulators and watchdogs have raised critical concerns about one of the Cybertruck’s most noticeable features: its electronic door system.

Over the course of the past several years, a series of high-profile and often fatal accidents have called attention to the Cybertruck’s lack of external and internal door handles. Unlike most automobiles, the Cybertruck’s doors are designed to be operated electronically. They open and close with the touch of a button (or, with the right app, through your cell phone’s Bluetooth connection).

In the event of a collision, fire, or simple battery failure, though, the Cybertruck’s doors can fail. Even though Tesla included a failsafe in the form of a wire-release switch, most drivers do not know where to find it. And when catastrophe strikes, seconds matter; the time it takes to find a hidden lever could well make the difference between walking away unscathed and suffering serious and potentially life-threatening injuries.

The Hidden Danger of the Cybertruck’s Electronic Doors

The Cybertruck’s doors are operated electronically and would not work without a power source.

To comply with federal safety regulations, Tesla’s engineers implemented a failsafe wire-release mechanism. However, this failsafe is not exactly easy to find. For example:

1. The wire release on the driver’s side is typically located in a compartment near the window controls. Deploying it necessitates locating the compartment, removing its cover, and lifting the lever. In older models, the switch is not clearly marked.
2. The wire release in the rear seats is hidden in another compartment. To manually open the door, passengers must find the hidden compartment and dispose of its lining before activating the switch.

New owners, ride-along passengers, and even people renting the Cybertruck on vacation rarely know where to find the emergency release. This has led to multiple incidences of entrapment. In several cases, passengers were smothered by smoke or burned to death because they could not escape the vehicle, and bystanders were unable to open the doors or break the windows.

Your Rights After a Serious Cybertruck Electronic Door Failure Accident

Automobile companies like Tesla have a legal duty to ensure the cars they sell are safe to use.

Safety is not just about running quality-control on the brakes or performing enough crash tests. It also requires anticipating the kinds of risks that drivers are likely to face if and when they are involved in an accident. Since the Cybertruck’s manual door-release mechanism is inordinately difficult to find, it could be considered defective (and has been described as such in a multitude of personal injury claims and wrongful death lawsuits).

You could be entitled to significant compensation if:

1. You were the driver of, or passenger in, a Tesla Cybertruck;
2. You were involved in an accident, and the electronic door system failed or was otherwise defective;
3. The electronic door system failure caused you to suffer injuries you would not have otherwise sustained; and
4. You have incurred damages as a result of your injuries and accident.

You may also be entitled to sue if you lost a loved one as a result of a Cybertruck door failure.

If you think you could have a case, call Jed Dietrich, Esq., today at 1-866-529-5334 to speak to a Tesla door failure injury lawyer and schedule your free consultation as soon as possible.