Tesla is facing a new homicide accusation after a young man died in a collision with one of its cars, when he could not exit the vehicle engulfed in flames due to a fault in the electric door handles.
Samuel Tremblett was 20 years old when he had a head-on collision with a tree while driving his Tesla Model Y 2021 in Easton, Massachusetts (USA), on October 29, 2025.
According to the lawsuit, the collision did not result in immediate death. However, due to a fault in the electric door system, Tremblett became trapped inside the car, which was soon consumed by flames.
Tremblett made an emergency call and repeatedly asked for help, reporting difficulty breathing as the fire spread. In a transcript of the call included in the lawsuit, the young man told the responders he could not exit the vehicle.
“It’s on fire. Please help me. I’m going to die,” Tremblett said, according to the transcript. “I’m trapped in a car accident… I can’t get out, please help me… I can’t breathe… I’m dying. Help. I’m dying.”
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court in Massachusetts, accuses Tesla of designing, manufacturing, and marketing vehicles with serious safety defects.
“How could Tesla continue to sell cars that they know trap people inside after an accident?” said Jacquelyn, Samuel’s mother, to local media outlets.
“They could have fixed it, but they refused. Now my son is dead after suffering mercilessly. The people who did this should face the consequences, and the public needs to know how dangerous Tesla vehicles are in an accident.”
The lawsuit also noted that Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, had stated that the company is very focused on safety. “You know, we work really hard to make the safest car in the world,” the businessman said in a 2018 first-quarter earnings call.
But apparently, that’s not the case. Last year, a Bloomberg report highlighted 15 deaths related to Tesla’s electric door system, as part of a broader investigation into Tesla door safety. Since 2018, there have been 140 reports of people being trapped inside Tesla vehicles in the United States alone.
According to Bloomberg, each Tesla vehicle has a low-voltage battery that controls components like the doors, while a high-voltage battery powers the car forward. If the low-voltage battery is deactivated for any reason, the doors will not open normally.
Although Tesla cars have a mechanical release for the doors, Bloomberg emphasized that many drivers are unaware of this or how to operate it. Additionally, the panic in a life-or-death situation may make it difficult to remember the proper opening procedure.
Photo: Unsplash. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
