A tragic and horrifying incident involving a Tesla Cybertruck has sparked a wrongful death lawsuit against the company.
Michael Sheehan, a 47-year-old registered nurse, purchased a brand-new Cybertruck in April 2024, only to tragically lose his life just three months later in a crash, per the New York Post.
On August 3, Sheehan's truck veered off the road, struck a concrete culvert, and exploded into flames so intense that his skeletal structure disintegrated, according to the lawsuit filed by his widow, Shannon, and his parents.
The fire, fueled by the vehicle's lithium-ion battery system, reached a staggering 5,000°F, leading to what experts call “thermal fracture,” a condition so extreme that Sheehan's bones were physically shortened by several inches.
“He was eight inches shorter in length than he was before he burned,” attorney S. Scott West, who represents the family, told The Independent.
The fatal blaze trapped Sheehan inside the truck, rendering him unable to escape, and the ensuing fire left his remains irreparably disfigured.
The lawsuit accuses Tesla of selling a defectively designed vehicle that turned what should have been a survivable crash into a deadly inferno.
“This was a single-vehicle crash. The crash forces were survivable… except for the fire, ergonomic shortcomings, and deficient crashworthiness,” the petition states.
The plaintiffs argue that the Cybertruck’s design prioritized aesthetics over basic safety, trapping Sheehan in a vehicle that was nearly impossible to escape once the power was cut off.
The lawsuit points out that the Cybertruck’s electric doors fail to open once power is lost, with the external handles malfunctioning and the manual release latches being “unreasonably difficult to locate in an emergency.”
These design flaws, the family contends, left Sheehan with no means of escape as the vehicle burned around him.
West, a former industrial design engineer turned trial lawyer, added that Tesla’s decision to emphasize the vehicle’s futuristic design rather than safety led to the catastrophe.
“Not only are you riding on top of 3,000 pounds of batteries, this ‘spaceship’ design is a double-edged sword,” West remarked.
While Sheehan had some alcohol in his system at the time of the crash, the lawsuit maintains that this should not have sealed his fate.
“Michael was a Mensa-level guy, very, very smart,” West said, emphasizing that the instructions Tesla provided were woefully inadequate for dealing with such an emergency.
He also pointed out that Sheehan had worked hard to make ends meet as a registered nurse and was deeply committed to his family.
According to his obituary, Sheehan was remembered as a devoted husband with a “gentle spirit,” and his family described him as “unique, authentic, caring, funny” and someone who “lived his life unapologetically.”
West, who has been in negotiations with Tesla in hopes of reaching a settlement, expressed frustration that the company has not taken meaningful action to address these safety concerns.
“Every religion has a version of hell, and every version of hell has fire,” West said, describing the unimaginable pain Sheehan must have experienced.
“It is the most excruciating and longest torture of any death. Whether it's steam or fire or electrical, the nerves are literally exposed to everything. It's horrific.”
He further challenged Tesla CEO Elon Musk to take responsibility and make the vehicles safer, saying: “There’s my challenge to Elon. Put me out of business. Make these vehicles so safe that I don’t have to do this anymore.”