Jordan Miller, the sole survivor of the horrific Cybertrack crash that occurred in Piedmont during Thanksgiving week in 2024, filed a lawsuit against Tesla Tuesday, claiming that Tesla’s faulty door locks trapped him in the vehicle and contributed to significant injuries from which he’s still recovering.
The crash happened on a night in November 2024, when the driver, Soren Dixon, lost control of the Tesla Cybeertruck on a residential street in the East Bay City of Piedmont, crashing into a cement wall, and then bursting into flames. Three passengers were killed — 19 year-old Piedmont high school grads Dixon, Jack Nelson, and Krysta Tsukahara, as SFist reported at the time. Toxicology reports later showed Dixon had alcohol, cocaine, and meth in his system and was traveling at high speed.
As the Chronicle reports, the fourth passenger, Jordan Miller, filed a lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court Tuesday, alleging that faulty door locks trapped him inside the vehicle and contributed to severe injuries. Prior to Miller’s lawsuit, the parents of Tsukahara and Nelson, who died in the crash, aso filed a lawsuit against Tesla last October, as SFist previously reported.
Tsukahara’s parents claimed in the lawsuit that she died from smoke inhalation and burns due to being trapped in the burning car, as opposed to any injuries sustained in the crash.
As the Chronicle reports, Miller, who was riding in the front passenger seat, was rescued by a friend Matt Riordan, who was driving behind them. As SFist reported last March, Riordan couldn’t get any of the doors to open, and none of the unlock buttons would activate. Per the Chronicle, Riordan eventually broke the window by repeatedly ramming a tree branch into the glass.
“He just sat there in flames with a rescuer pounding on the window, trying to get him out,” Miller’s attorney, Anthony Label, a partner at the Veen Firm, said regarding Miller, per the Chronicle.
The lawsuit accuses Tesla of selling the Cybertruck with a dangerous design that can trap occupants during emergencies. As KTVU reports, the complaint alleges Tesla was aware of these risks for years and ignored safer alternatives, calling it a “conscious disregard for safety.”
"When you design a vehicle with no mechanical way to open the doors from the outside, you are betting the electronics will work in every scenario, including a high-speed crash followed by a fire," said Miller’s attorney Anthony L. Label, speaking to KTVU. "Someone was there to help immediately. He couldn’t get in. This lawsuit is about what Tesla knew and what Tesla designed."
Miller suffered extensive injuries, including burns to his airways and lungs that left him on a ventilator for days, third-degree burns requiring skin grafts, multiple spinal fractures, and the loss of a portion of his intestines, with lasting impacts expected.
The lawsuit also names Dixon’s estate and the vehicle’s owner, alleging negligent driving and liability for the crash.
As SFist noted in September, Tesla said it planned to redesign its vehicles’ door handles following a report from Bloomberg that revealed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had received more than 140 reports of doors malfunctioning on different Tesla models since 2018.
Most Tesla vehicles currently rely on an electronic button to open doors, with a separate manual release that varies by model and can be difficult to locate, as Fast Company reported. In some cases, the manual latch is hidden in places like beneath the rear-seat carpeting. Reports also note that exterior door handles can fail during power loss, and it’s unclear whether the redesign would address that issue.
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