The lawsuit was filed by Kristian E., a woman from Maryland who was involved in a car accident in July 2019 on I-95.
Her husband was driving the Tesla Model 3 and Kristian was sitting in the front passenger seat when another driver swerved into their lane.
The other vehicle hit their Model 3 on the passenger side, causing it to crash into a guardrail before stopping on the median.
The Tesla was totaled, but none of the airbags deployed. As a result of the failure of the passenger-side airbags to deploy, Kristian’s head slammed into the interior and she suffered traumatic brain injuries.
Furthermore, the lawsuit also blames her head injuries on the failure of the front passenger seat belt to properly restrain her in the accident.
The lawsuit accuses Tesla of exaggerating the safety of the Model 3. For example, Tesla claims that “vehicle occupants are less likely to get seriously hurt in crashes when in a Model 3 than in any other car.”
Tesla also advertises the vehicle by claiming they “engineered the Model 3 to be the safest car ever built,” according to the lawsuit.
However, Kristian’s lawyers say her Model 3 did not perform as advertised because the airbags did not deploy, and the front passenger seat belt failed to properly restrain her in the accident.
The lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Alameda — In RE: Kristian Edwards et al. v. Tesla Inc..
Source: Tesla Airbags, Seat Belts Faulted In Woman’s Brain Injury Suit