Friday, May 27, 2022 – A father-of-five who burned to death following an accident in his Tesla Model S could have been saved were it not for an electric fault on his doors preventing police from getting to him, a lawsuit has alleged.
Dr Omar Awan died when police were unable to rescue him from his vehicle after it crashed in Florida’s Broward County in February 2019.
A new lawsuit filed by his wife Liliana claims Tesla were to blame for a “defective” design on the Model S, which allegedly stopped police and first responders from rescuing her husband.
Despite Tesla’s denial of the claims, the police report filed by an officer for the Davie Police Department, who investigated the crash, also points to a failure with the door handles.
The officer told NBC 6 that although the Model S’s streamlined doors are supposed to automatically come out “in the event of a crash and do reliably in minor to moderate crashes, they did not in this crash.”
“The handles … are electronic and would not operate if power is abruptly cut in the vehicle,” the report added.
“Nor were officers able to break a window because of the flames,” the report said.
“There is a mechanical back-up in place that can only be accessed from the inside of the vehicle, which it’s why the company gives training to first responders to break the window and open the vehicle from the inside.”
A medical examiner later ruled that the 48-year-old died of smoke inhalation and burns, rather than the crash which led to him being trapped inside his Tesla.
“He could have been saved.
“He could have been here.
“He could have been with us, with his children,” his wife said in an interview this week.
She added: “I want people, I want to shake them and say, ‘Listen, these futuristic cars have benefits but they also have high, high risks and yes, death is one of them’.”
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