当地时间11月3日，有消息称，美国一辆特斯拉汽车去年11月在碰撞后引发火灾，车内人员因无法打开车门而死亡，美国受害者家属已提起诉讼。

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.

据报道，去年在一次车祸中丧生的一对夫妇的4个子女，于当地时间10月31日对特斯拉提起“过失致人死亡”诉讼，指控特斯拉存在设计缺陷，导致其Model S轿车在碰撞起火后电子车门系统失灵，车内5人（包括他们的父母）被困在燃烧的车辆中无法逃生，最终全部遇难。

家属指控：

电子系统失灵，手动逃生操作“不直观”

根据法庭文件，这起事故发生在2024年11月1日的威斯康星州。当时，54岁的杰弗里·鲍尔先生和55岁的米歇尔·鲍尔夫人乘坐一辆Model S。车辆在行驶时突然冲出路面，撞上了一棵树，并迅速起火。车上的5人（包括鲍尔夫妇）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，鲍尔夫妇的4个孩子向威斯康星州戴恩县的州法院提起了这起诉讼。原告的法律团队写道：“特斯拉的设计选择造成了一个高度可预见的风险：即在事故中幸存的乘客将被困在燃烧的车辆中。”

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".

有报道指出，一旦操作特斯拉车窗和车门的低压电池在碰撞后失灵，乘客必须依靠手动方式打开车门。然而，许多驾驶员和乘客并不知道内部机械解锁装置的位置。

家属们在诉讼文件中强调，像鲍尔夫人这样的后座乘客“尤其脆弱”，因为后座乘客必须掀起地毯，才能找到一个金属拉环来实现逃生，这种操作是“反直觉的”。

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.

美国监管机构展开调查

消费者对特斯拉车门故障的投诉也引起了美国监管机构的注意。

自2018年以来，美国国家公路交通安全管理局（NHTSA）已收到约150起关于特斯拉车门无法打开或存在其他故障的消费者投诉。

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，该监管机构就对某些特斯拉门把手是否存在缺陷的调查给特斯拉去信，提到特斯拉畅销车型Model Y的车主反映低压电池问题导致外把手无法正常使用，有时甚至导致儿童被锁在车内。

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.

该机构要求特斯拉告知其收到的与所指缺陷相关的消费者投诉数量，涉及碰撞、起火、人员伤亡的报告，以及有关车门开启问题相关的诉讼和仲裁程序的信息。

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.

来源：红星新闻 路透社 CNBC