Sole Survivor of Fatal Piedmont Cybertruck Crash Files Lawsuit Against Tesla

Complaint alleges no door handles, reinforced windows, and failed electronics trapped four college students inside a burning vehicle

SAN FRANCISCO — Jordan Miller, the sole survivor of a Tesla Cybertruck crash that killed three college students in Piedmont, California, sued Tesla this week in Alameda County Superior Court, alleging that the Cybertruck’s design trapped its occupants inside a burning vehicle and blocked their rescue. The complaint, filed by attorneys Annie Wu and Anthony L. Label of The Veen Firm, LLP, brings claims for negligence, design defect, failure to warn, and failure to recall.

In the early morning hours before Thanksgiving 2024, a Cybertruck carrying four students slammed into a tree on a residential street in Piedmont and caught fire. A friend driving behind jumped out and ran to the truck. He reached for the doors. There were no handles. He pressed the electronic buttons. Nothing happened. He grabbed a tree branch and swung it at the window again and again, but the reinforced glass held. When it finally broke, he reached in and pulled Miller, 20, to safety.
He could not reach the other three. Soren Dixon, 19, Jack Nelson, 20, and Krysta Tsukahara, 19, died trapped inside. All four were 2023 Piedmont High School graduates home for Thanksgiving.

The Cybertruck has no exterior mechanical door handles. It relies on electronic buttons powered by the vehicle’s low-voltage electrical system. The complaint alleges those buttons failed after the collision on Hampton Road at about 3:07 a.m. on November 27, 2024.

“A friend was right there within seconds,” said Wu. “He couldn’t open the doors. No handles. The buttons weren’t working. Jordan was trapped in a burning vehicle when he didn’t have to be. That is a design problem.”

The complaint alleges Tesla has known about the risk of trapping occupants for over a decade, citing incidents across multiple models including a fatal Cybertruck fire in Baytown, Texas in August 2024.

“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 Label. “Someone was there to help immediately. He couldn’t get in. This lawsuit is about what Tesla knew and what Tesla designed.”

Miller suffered catastrophic injuries including a five-day induced coma, burns to his airways and lungs, major abdominal surgery, four fractured vertebrae requiring spinal fusion, third-degree burns to his left leg and left hand, extensive skin grafts, and significant burn debridement surgery.

The case is Miller v. Tesla, Inc., et al., Case No. 25CV135984, Alameda County Superior Court. Separate lawsuits have been filed by the families of Tsukahara and Nelson. Wu and Label are available for interviews.

The Veen Firm, LLP is a San Francisco trial firm that has recovered over $1 billion for catastrophically injured clients since 1975. https://www.veenfirm.com/