Overview

• Two amended wrongful-death suits filed in Alameda County by the Tsukahara and Nelson families now name Tesla, alleging the Cybertruck’s door system trapped rear passengers after the Nov. 27, 2024 crash.
• Complaints claim electronic buttons failed when power was cut and the rear mechanical release—tucked beneath a door-pocket mat—was impractical to find in fire and smoke.
• Witness accounts describe a bystander breaking a window with a tree branch to free the front passenger, while driver Soren Dixon, 19, and rear passengers Krysta Tsukahara, 19, and Jack Nelson, 20, died of smoke inhalation.
• The filings cite dozens of prior incidents to argue Tesla knew of entrapment risks, as NHTSA pursues a separate probe into Tesla door operability; Tesla has not commented.
• Tesla’s design chief recently said the company is developing revised door releases, and investigators previously found intoxication and speeding contributed to the crash.