Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla is currently under investigation after parents complained about potentially faulty door handles that left their children trapped in the back seat and forcing them to break windows to get the kids out.
Now, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said that the preliminary probe into the case focuses on 2021 Tesla Model Ys. This comes after they received nine reports of electronic door handles becoming unresponsive, potentially due to low battery voltage.
Tesla's Faulty Doors
Tesla, which was founded by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, installed manual door releases inside the vehicles in question. However, the NHTSA noted that a child will not be able to reach or even know how to operate these releases. Four cases revealed that the parents were forced to break their vehicles' windows to rescue their children.
The probe into the company's most popular car model comes after several incidents were reported over the past few years, including other problems with opening doors. These instances have resulted in drivers being trapped inside a burning car after accidents or loss of power, according to ABC News.
There was one incident in April where a college basketball recruit said that he was "fighting time" trying to get out of his Tesla Cybertruck that caught on fire. That was after he crashed into a tree and was not able to open his car doors.
The victim in that accident was identified as Alijah Arenas, a University of Southern California player who was induced into a temporary coma after the crash. He later said that he was able to keep himself from sustaining fatal injuries by dousing himself with water from a bottle while smoke continued to fill the car he was in.
A Legal Challenge
A separate incident occurred last year, where relatives of the driver of a Tesla Model 3 who got trapped inside his vehicle and died by being burned beyond recognition. They filed a lawsuit against Musk's company for negligence and fraud, citing its failure to fix a design flaw, Live Now Fox reported.
That came despite what the relatives of the victim said were 200 fires involving the company's vehicles. The NHTSA added that its investigation into Tesla looks at the operability of the electronic door locks from outside, not inside.
Officials argued that this is because that is the only instance in which there is no manual way to open the car doors. However, they added that they will continue to monitor reports of people who get stuck inside, as per Local12.
