*

Model S door systems allegedly prevented post-crash escape

*

911 caller allegedly heard screaming from inside Model S

*

Tesla not available for comment

By Jonathan Stempel

Nov 3 (Reuters) - 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.

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

November 1, 2024. They died the next day.

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."

Tesla, based in Austin, Texas and led by Elon Musk, did not

immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.

The automaker has also been sued by families of two college

students killed in a Cybertruck crash last November in a San

Francisco suburb, after allegedly being locked in the burning

vehicle because of its door handle design.

NHTSA HAS PROBED TESLA DOOR DESIGN

In September, the National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration disclosed a probe into possible defects on some

Tesla doors, following reports that handles could fail.

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.

A nearby homeowner told 911 she heard screaming from within

the Bauers' vehicle, the complaint said.

"Tesla's design choices created a highly foreseeable risk:

that occupants who survived a crash would remain trapped inside

a burning vehicle," according to the complaint.

Other defendants include the estate of the car's driver, who

the Bauer children accused of negligent driving. The lawsuit was

filed in a state court in Dane County.

The case is Bauer et al v Tesla et al, Wisconsin Circuit

Court, Dane County, No. 2025CV003601.