美國一特斯拉碰撞起火后打不開車門，5人身亡，家屬起訴！

當地時間11月3日，有消息稱，美國一輛特斯拉汽車去年11月在碰撞后引發火災，車內人員因無法打開車門而死亡，美國受害者家屬已提起訴訟。

Tesla has been sued over a fiery Wisconsin crash that killed all five occupants of a Model S, who were allegedly trapped inside because of a design flaw that prevented them from opening the sedan's doors.

據報道，去年在一次車禍中喪生的一對夫婦的4個子女，于當地時間10月31日對特斯拉提起“過失致人死亡”訴訟，指控特斯拉存在設計缺陷，導致其Model S轎車在碰撞起火后電子車門系統失靈，車內5人（包括他們的父母）被困在燃燒的車輛中無法逃生，最終全部遇難。

家屬指控：

電子系統失靈，手動逃生操作“不直觀”

根據法庭文件，這起事故發生在2024年11月1日的威斯康星州。當時，54歲的杰弗里·鮑爾先生和55歲的米歇爾·鮑爾夫人乘坐一輛Model S。車輛在行駛時突然沖出路面，撞上了一棵樹，并迅速起火。車上的5人（包括鮑爾夫婦）均在事故中身亡。

Jeffrey Bauer, 54, and Michelle Bauer, 55, of Crandon, Wisconsin were passengers when their Model S went off the road and struck a tree in Verona, Wisconsin, a suburb of Madison, on Nov 1, 2024. They died the next day.

10月31日，鮑爾夫婦的4個孩子向威斯康星州戴恩縣的州法院提起了這起訴訟。原告的法律團隊寫道：“特斯拉的設計選擇造成了一個高度可預見的風險：即在事故中幸存的乘客將被困在燃燒的車輛中。”

According to a complaint filed on Friday by four of the Bauers' children, the couple's fate was sealed because the Model S's lithium-ion battery pack caused the electronic door systems to fail.

The children said Tesla knew this could happen based on earlier fires, yet made a "conscious departure from known, feasible safety practices".

有報道指出，一旦操作特斯拉車窗和車門的低壓電池在碰撞后失靈，乘客必須依靠手動方式打開車門。然而，許多駕駛員和乘客并不知道內部機械解鎖裝置的位置。

家屬們在訴訟文件中強調，像鮑爾夫人這樣的后座乘客“尤其脆弱”，因為后座乘客必須掀起地毯，才能找到一個金屬拉環來實現逃生，這種操作是“反直覺的”。

The Bauer children said Model S rear seat passengers like Michelle Bauer were particularly vulnerable following crashes, because they would have to lift carpeting to find a metal tab allowing their escape, which is not intuitive.

美國監管機構展開調查

消費者對特斯拉車門故障的投訴也引起了美國監管機構的注意。

自2018年以來，美國國家公路交通安全管理局（NHTSA）已收到約150起關于特斯拉車門無法打開或存在其他故障的消費者投訴。

Tesla has been ordered to provide records to US federal auto safety regulators to comply with a sweeping investigation into possible safety defects with the company's flush-mounted, retractable door handles that can lead to people getting trapped.

10月27日，該監管機構就對某些特斯拉門把手是否存在缺陷的調查給特斯拉去信，提到特斯拉暢銷車型Model Y的車主反映低壓電池問題導致外把手無法正常使用，有時甚至導致兒童被鎖在車內。

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a letter to Elon Musk’s automaker that the agency continued to receive complaints from Tesla owners after the regulators initiated a probe in September.

Owners said they were unable to enter or exit their cars due to battery power loss and other situations impeding normal use of the door handles.

In some cases, owners' children were trapped inside hot vehicles, requiring first responder interventions or breaking windows to open the doors.

該機構要求特斯拉告知其收到的與所指缺陷相關的消費者投訴數量，涉及碰撞、起火、人員傷亡的報告，以及有關車門開啟問題相關的訴訟和仲裁程序的信息。

The NHTSA Tesla probe seeks records concerning all model year, “2021 Tesla Model Y vehicles manufactured for sale or lease in the United States”, as well as “peer vehicles”, including Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles from model years 2017 to 2022, and “systems related to opening doors including, door handles, door latches, 12VDC batteries, software”, and other components.

Tesla has until Dec 10 to provide the records.

來源：紅星新聞 路透社 CNBC

跟著China Daily

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