When tragedy strikes, sometimes the details are more horrifying than the initial shock. In November 2024, a Cybertruck crash in Piedmont claimed the lives of three young college students - Soren Dixon, Krysta Tsukahara, and Jack Nelson - and now their families are demanding answers from Tesla.

A Deadly Design Flaw

The lawsuit alleges that while the initial crash might have been survivable, the Cybertruck’s electric door system became a death trap. With doors that couldn’t be manually opened and a “mechanical release cable” hidden under a rubber mat, the students were essentially sealed inside a burning vehicle.

Voices of Grief and Accountability

Carl Tsukahara, father of Krysta, expressed raw emotion: “We’ve had to endure not only the loss of our daughter, but the silence surrounding how this happened”. The lawsuits highlight a pattern of concerns about Tesla’s door systems, including 34 previous incidents that suggest systemic design problems.

Corporate Silence and Potential Changes

Tesla’s design chief Franz von Holzhausen has acknowledged potential issues, indicating they are redesigning door handles. However, for the families of Tsukahara and Nelson, this comes too late. Their lawsuits seek not just damages, but accountability for what they see as a preventable tragedy.