---
title: "Lawsuit Blames Tesla’s Retracting Door Handles for Fiery Death"
description: "A wrongful death lawsuit was filed against Tesla in Broward County, alleging 48-year-old Omar Awan's death was caused by Tesla's special door handles."
date: "2019-10-24"
modified: "2019-10-24"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/lawsuit-tesla-door-handles"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
  - "Tesla"
tags:
  - "accident"
  - "car accident"
  - "model s"
  - "tesla"
  - "the digest"
---

# Lawsuit Blames Tesla’s Retracting Door Handles for Fiery Death

![A wrongful death lawsuit was filed against Tesla in Broward County, alleging 48-year-old Omar Awan's death was caused by Tesla's special door handles.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/lawsuit-tesla-door-handles.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Tesla\</em\>*

## Fiery Crash

An anesthesiologist named Omar Awan died in a fiery wreck last winter when first responders were unable to open the futuristic retracting door handles on his Tesla Model S after it slammed into a palm tree in South Florida.

Now, a wrongful death lawsuit alleges that Awan's death was directly caused by Tesla's iconic door handle design, [*Bloomberg* reports](<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-23/tesla-s-futuristic-door-handles-blamed-for-death-in-fiery-wreck>).

“Fire engulfed the car and burned Dr. Awan beyond recognition — all because the Model S has inaccessible door handles, no other way to open the doors, and an unreasonably dangerous fire risk," reads the suit that was filed earlier this month.

## Up in Smoke

Tesla didn't comment on the lawsuit to *Bloomberg*.

Back in 2015, Consumer Reports [listed](<https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2015/05/consumer-reports-tesla-model-s-p85d-breaks-before-testing-begins/index.htm>) broken door handles as one of the most common problems with the vehicle type in question.

According to the lawsuit, *Bloomberg* reports, Awan died from smoke inhalation — and the wreck reignited several times after firefighters put the blaze out.

**READ MORE:** [Tesla’s Futuristic Door Handles Blamed for Death in Fiery Wreck](<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-23/tesla-s-futuristic-door-handles-blamed-for-death-in-fiery-wreck>) \[*Bloomberg*\]

**More on the accident:** *[Report: In Fatal Crash, Door Handles Fail on Burning Tesla](<https://futurism.com/tesla-driver-killed-burning-model-s>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)