The lawsuit, filed on Friday, alleges the lithium-ion battery pack within the Mannequin S brought on the digital door methods to fail.
Revealed On 3 Nov 2025
Electrical Automobile firm Tesla has been sued over a fiery crash in the USA that killed all 5 occupants of a Mannequin S, who have been allegedly trapped inside due to a design flaw that prevented them from opening the sedan’s doorways.
Jeffrey Bauer, 54, and Michelle Bauer, 55, of Crandon, Wisconsin, have been passengers in a Mannequin S when the automobile went off the street and struck a tree in Verona, Wisconsin, a suburb of Madison, on November 1, 2024. They died the subsequent day.
Beneficial Tales
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In response to a grievance filed on Friday by 4 of the Bauers’ kids, the couple’s destiny was sealed as a result of the Mannequin S’s lithium-ion battery pack brought on the digital door methods to fail.
The youngsters stated that Tesla knew this might occur primarily based on earlier fires, but made a “aware departure from identified, possible security practices”.
Tesla, primarily based in Austin, Texas, and led by Elon Musk, didn’t instantly reply to requests for touch upon Monday by the Reuters information company.
The automaker has additionally been sued by households of two faculty college students killed in a Cybertruck crash final November in a San Francisco suburb, after allegedly being locked within the burning car due to its door deal with design.
In September, the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration disclosed a probe into the doable defects on some Tesla doors, following reviews that handles might fail.
The Bauer kids stated that Mannequin S rear seat passengers, like Michelle Bauer, have been significantly susceptible within the occasion of a crash, as a result of they must carry carpeting to discover a steel tab permitting their escape, which isn’t intuitive.
A close-by house owner informed 911 that she heard screaming from throughout the Bauers’ car, the grievance stated.
“Tesla’s design selections created a extremely foreseeable threat: that occupants who survived a crash would stay trapped inside a burning car,” in line with the grievance.
Different defendants embody the property of the automobile’s driver, whom the Bauer kids accused of negligent driving.
On Wall Road, Tesla’s inventory completed the day up 2.5 %.
