Tesla Sued After Another Person Burned To Death Because Rescuers Couldn’t Open Their Door

Good morning! It’s Monday, November 24, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you’ll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around. In this morning’s edition, Tesla is hit with another lawsuit after its poorly designed door handles allegedly led to another death, Bollinger officially closes its doors for good, General Motors is planning to infuse an additional $550 million in U. S. production by 2027 and, oh look, Ford is recalling about a quarter-million vehicles. Tesla has been sued over a brutal and fiery January 2023 crash in Washington state that ended with one person dead and another severely injured because first responders allegedly couldn’t open the Model 3’s doors. It’s the latest in a growing number of lawsuits Tesla is facing over the door handles both inside and outside on its vehicles. Jeffery and Wendy Dennis, a married couple, were running errands on a Sunday afternoon when their car “suddenly and rapidly accelerated out of control,” according to the lawsuit filed in Washington state federal court. It then hit a utility pole and burst into flames. It said Tesla’s “unique and defective door handle design” left the doors inoperable and hurt the rescue process. Wendy died at the scene, and Jefferey suffered severe injuries, including burns to his legs. From Bloomberg: “Several bystanders ran to the vehicle and attempted to assist Jeff and Wendy Dennis but the Model 3’s door handles would not operate,” lawyers representing Jeffery Dennis and the estate of his wife said in the lawsuit. “Several good Samaritans even attempted to use a baseball bat to break the car windows to help.” [.] The new lawsuit accuses Tesla of negligence and misleading customers, arguing that Elon Musk’s company knew the door handles could become inoperable after a crash and was aware of fire hazards from the lithium-ion battery pack, but did nothing to address either issue. It also claims that the Model 3 involved in the crash had a defect that caused the vehicle to suddenly accelerate out of control and that the automatic emergency braking system failed. Tesla vehicles have two batteries: one for low-voltage power to interior functions like windows, doors and the touchscreen, and the high-voltage pack that propels the car. If the low-voltage battery dies or is disabled which can happen after a serious crash the doors may not unlock and must be opened manually from the inside. While there are mechanical releases inside Teslas, many owners and passengers are unfamiliar with where they’re located or how to operate them. Tesla is already facing a slew of lawsuits over its door handle design. Just weeks ago, a suit was filed in Wisconsin over a Model S crash that killed all five occupants inside, who became trapped after a fire engulfed the car and the doors wouldn’t open. Back in October, Tesla was sued over claims that defective doors on a crashed Cybertruck in California made it a “death trap” and prevented three college students from getting out before they died of smoke inhalation. I don’t know how Tesla gets itself out of this one. Welp, that’s it for Bollinger, the once-promising EV truck start-up is no more after a few years of crappy performance and an overall failure to launch. Apparently, its last official day of business was Friday, November 21, according to emails sent by the automaker’s human resources director, Helen Watson. Just last week, we told you that Bollinger was struggling to meet its payroll obligations and that the company currently has 59 claims of unpaid wages pending with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. We knew it wasn’t long for this world, but we didn’t know it would all end so soon. From the Detroit Free Press: “We received word late last night that the day has arrived, we are to officially close the doors of Bollinger Motors, effective today, November 21st, 2025,” the email from Watson said. [.] Watson told employees in the email that David Michery, the CEO of Bollinger Innovations said in a notice posted on Nov. 18. All recalled vehicles are believed to contain the defect. The government agency said Ford will fix the issue with a software update, which can be installed for free at a dealership or delivered wirelessly through an over-the-air update. As of Nov. 7, 2025, Ford said it was aware of 12 warranty claims potentially related to the display issue, NHTSA documents show. Ford still very much leads the way when it comes to recalls. So far this year, the automaker has issued 138 recalls. That’s more than Stellantis, General Motors, Volkswagen, Honda and BMW combined and they’re in places two through six.
https://www.jalopnik.com/2034595/tesla-sued-another-person-burned-death-door-handles/