The family of a man who died in a crash involving a Tesla Cybertruck filed a lawsuit against the automaker, alleging a defective design and other claims.
The lawsuit, filed in Harris County district court in Texas, stated that in August 2024, 47-year-old Michael Sheehanโs Cybertruck veered off the road, hit a culvert and caught fire, trapping Sheehan inside a blaze that allegedly reached 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Most Read on IEN:
- Muskโs โKey Lieutenantโ Leaves Tesla Amid Conflicting Reports
- Ship Carrying 3,000 Vehicles Abandoned in Pacific Ocean
- Yaskawa Moving Headquarters from Illinois to Wisconsin
- PODCAST: Ford Not American Enough; Another SpaceX Explosion; Sausage Secret Suit
Sheehanโs family is also suing Barn Whiskey Bar, claiming that the establishment overserved Sheehan alcohol on the night of the crash. The family demands a trial by jury and seeks monetary relief that exceeds $1 million.
The lawsuit acknowledged that the incident was a single-vehicle crash. However, it argues that the crash forces were survivable and contends that the Cybertruckโs deformation contributed to the fire and prevented Sheehan from escaping the burning vehicle.
Defective design claims include the use of a highly volatile battery prone to thermal runaway despite the availability of an alternative battery cell chemistry that could have allowed more time to escape after the crash. The lawsuit also labeled the vehicle โnot crashworthyโ due to multiple factors, including the design of energy-absorbing structures near the battery modules.
The lawsuit also identified the Cybertruckโs doors as a design defect, arguing that occupants cannot open them once power is lost and that the vehicleโs alternate interior door handles are โunreasonably difficult to locate in an emergency.โ
According to the lawsuit, Tesla failed to give โadequate warnings of the Cybertruckโs dangersโ and โadequate instructions to avoid the productโs dangers,โ and that the companyโs negligence in the design, manufacturing, testing, inspection, marketing, instruction and selling of the vehicle contributed to Sheehanโs death.
Click here to subscribe to our daily newsletter featuring breaking manufacturing industry news.