Four Indian friends, including two siblings, died in a burning Tesla in Toronto, Canada, on October 24. The deceased victims from Gujarat were previously identified as Ketaba Gohil (29) and her brother Neelraj (25), Jayrajsingh Sisodia and Digvijay Patel.
The fiery tragedy happened last month when the electronic vehicle burst into flames after hitting a guard rail.
The sole survivor of the incident was a woman in her 20s, who fortunately made it out after Rick Harper, a heroic Canada Post employee, smashed a window of the burning Model Y with a metal pole.
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Harper has since spoken out about the blazing tragedy that claimed the lives of four friends, questioning Tesla’s safety design after the Toronto accident.
As the Toronto Star recorded, the Canada Post hero confirmed that he “couldn’t open the doors.”
He explained, “I would assume the young lady would have tried to open the door from the inside, because she was pretty desperate to get out.”
“I don’t know if that was the battery or what. But she couldn’t get out.” Harper told the outlet that as soon as he broke one of the car’s windows, the stressed-out woman fell out of the car head-first. Due to the thick smoke covering the car’s interior, Harper didn’t realise then that other people were also trapped inside.
While the cause of the crash is still being investigated, the case has drawn attention to Tesla’s electronic doors failing the victims. The EV’s doors need power to open as a button unlocks them instead of handles.
Calgary Fire Department Captain Randy Schmitz also pointed out that in a crash, power can fail, causing severe difficulty unlocking the doors. Nevertheless, the car involved in the blazing accident last month—the Tesla Model Y—is also believed to have a manual override button. However, experts say that the less publicised feature may not be easy to locate in an anxiety-inducing situation.
In addition to the case in question, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has highlighted nine ongoing investigations involving the same vehicle model, ranging from “unexpected brake activation” to “sudden unintended acceleration.”
