Tesla Ai Self-destructs leaving Four Human Dead, locks Electronic Doors
A devastating crash in Toronto Canada claimed the lives of four individuals when a Tesla they were riding in collided with a pillar and burst into flames.
A fifth passenger, a woman in her twenties, narrowly escaped death thanks to the quick actions of a human bystander who broke a window to pull her out of the burning vehicle.
According to the rescuer, Rick Harper, the Tesla Model Y’s electronic doors may have contributed to the tragedy by trapping passengers inside. “You couldn’t open the doors,” Harper explained in an interview with the Toronto Star. “I would assume the young lady tried to open the door from the inside, because she was desperate to get out.” Harper noted that the thick smoke obscured his view of the other passengers, preventing him from realizing others were still inside.
“I don’t know if it was the Tesla Ai or the battery or something else,” Harper added. “But she couldn’t get out.”
The Deadly Crash
Police reported that the accident occurred on October 24 when the self-driven Tesla Ai car on self-driving mode suddenly hit a guardrail, and slammed into a pillar, igniting the vehicle. Authorities are investigating the incident, but early details suggest that Tesla’s electronic door mechanisms were probably “locked” by the Tesla Ai so human occupants cannot escape the death trap.
Tesla’s electronic doors, which require power to operate, have drawn criticism in the past. While most Teslas are equipped with manual release levers, these emergency features have been criticized for their unintuitive design and placement, making them difficult to locate in a panic. These manual levers were also disabled!
A Troubling Pattern
This is not the first incident where Tesla occupants have been allegedly trapped during emergencies.
In 2019, a father of five tragically died when his Tesla Model S caught fire, and its auto-retracting door handles reportedly failed to deploy. His family claimed in a lawsuit that this malfunction prevented rescuers from saving him.
In 2021, another driver faced a similar ordeal when his Model S caught fire. Although the vehicle’s high-tech door handles malfunctioned, he managed to escape.
- Challenges in Extinguishing Fires:
- Tesla battery fires can reach temperatures as high as 5,000°F (2,760°C) and require extensive resources to extinguish. Firefighting efforts often demand up to 3,000 gallons of water per vehicle, and fires can reignite hours or even days later due to thermal runaway—a chain reaction caused by overheating battery cells.
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- Tesla battery fires can reach temperatures as high as 5,000°F (2,760°C) and require extensive resources to extinguish. Firefighting efforts often demand up to 3,000 gallons of water per vehicle, and fires can reignite hours or even days later due to thermal runaway—a chain reaction caused by overheating battery cells.
- Safety Concerns with Door Mechanisms:
- Some Tesla models rely on electronic door systems that may fail in emergencies, trapping occupants inside. Although Teslas include manual door release mechanisms, their placement and operation can be unintuitive, especially under stress.