A 47-year-old Texas man wasn’t just killed in his Cybertruck after a crash, he was cremated in it. Now his widow and parents are suing Tesla.
By the time Michael Sheehan’s Cybertruck stopped burning, his bones had shattered from the intense heat, and his body had shrunk by eight inches. The registered nurse was trapped inside his brand-new $100,000 Tesla when it veered off-road, crashed into a culvert, and exploded into flames that hit 5,000°F, a fire so hot that it reduced his bones to ash.
The complaint, filed in Harris County, alleges the Cybertruck is “defectively designed,” prioritizing aesthetics over life-saving functionality.
When the crash disabled the vehicle’s electrical systems, Sheehan couldn’t open the doors, the handles failed, and the emergency manual release was too difficult for him to find in his panic. He was trapped. He was burned alive. He had only owned the Cybertruck for 102 days.
Three college students died in another Cybertruck inferno months later, establishing a pattern.
Add all of that to the ever-growing pile of problems facing Tesla, whose sales have plummeted; the Cybertruck, which nobody wants; and the company’s ketamine-addled, Nazi-saluting leader, Elon Musk. The Cybertruck was supposed to be the crown jewel in Tesla’s crown. But, since its 2023 launch, the Cybertruck has racked up at least eight recalls, covering everything from faulty accelerator pedals to shedding body panels.
While West admits Sheehan had alcohol in his system, alcohol in your bloodstream doesn’t turn a car into a crematorium. The family’s lawsuit contends Tesla didn’t adequately warn Cybertruck buyers how to escape after a crash or other emergency, even though the brand promotes itself as next-gen smart tech.
“I’d love for them to put me out of business,” West says. “Make these vehicles so safe that I don’t have to do this anymore.”
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