The only survivor of a horror Tesla crash was forced to watch her friends perish after the car’s doors failed.
Four friends died inside the burning car, after the crash broke the electronic door handles.
A woman, in her 20s escaped the inferno after a heroic Canada Post employee Rick Harper, smashed the window of the Model Y Tesla with a metal pole.
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The woman’s friends, Neelraj Gohil, 25, his sister Ketaba Gohil, 29, Jay Sisodiya and Digvijay Patel, all died in the horrific tragedy which took place on October 24.
(Image: Handout)
Hero Harper told the Toronto Star that the survivor “couldn’t open the doors” from inside the car.
Instead of having handles, Teslas have a button which car drivers and passengers push to open a door. However if the power fails, the doors can become stuck and won’t open.
Harper said: “I would assume the young lady would have tried to open the door from the inside, because she was pretty desperate to get out.
“I don’t know if that was the battery or what. But she couldn’t get out.”
(Image: Handout)
The postie said the young woman escaped from the car head-first after he smashed the window. He added that the smoke inside the car was so thick, he didn’t realise others were trapped inside, and has no way of knowing if they to were desperately trying to escape the fireball.
Police said the car crashed into a guardrail at high speed along Lake Shore Boulevard East in Toronto. Investigators are still working out why the car crashed, reports MailOnline.
Tesla claims their cars are “the safest in the world”, thanks to their “safety-first design”. Tesla vehicles have a manual override button but the feature isn’t often highlighted.
(Image: CTV)
The override button is located in a panel in the door. In the event of a crash or emergency, people inside a Tesla should pull away the panel and tug at the cable underneath to open the doors.
However, safety watchdogs have highlighted that crash victims may be too panicked or dazed to do this.
The Tesla Model Y is the focus of nine investigations, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, ranging from “unexpected brake activation” to “sudden unintended acceleration”.
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