Firefighter recalls harrowing moment he pulled woman from a burning Tesla
Tesla's electric vehicles might be futuristic in many respects, but one firefighter explains how they're far behind in others by recalling the harrowing moment he tried to pull a woman and her husband from their burning Model Y.
The future is golden – or it is according to Tesla itself, as Elon Musk's electric vehicle manufacturing behemoth continues to increase its valuation despite some worrying value drops earlier this year.
With a packed line up of high tech cars featuring futuristic tech such as self-driving capabilities and even the option to game while driving, you'd easily think that Tesla's vehicles are head and shoulders above just about every other.
However, while they have passed government mandated tests with flying colors, these cars do have one glaring flaw, and it's an area that could end up costing your life if you find yourself in the wrong scenario.
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As reported by Bloomberg, Teslas have become notorious within the emergency services for being a 'race against time' in the event of a crash, as their design makes it incredibly difficult for passengers to exit the vehicle when it loses power.
Flush door handles that stop working when power is cut make getting into (or getting out of) the vehicle a near impossibility, and the battery cells that power the car can and often do burn more intensely than gasoline.
These moments of horror were what off-duty firefighter Max Walsh encountered when he spotted a burning Tesla Model Y on a busy intersection in northern Virginia, as his attempts to rescue the two passengers trapped inside were far more difficult than you might imagine.
"I'm trying to open the door and it's like, 'What the hell, where is the backup thing?'," Walsh explained when recounting the moment he plunged his arm through the broken glass window and into the flames, burning himself in the process.
He was unable to find the mechanical release that could override the electric power that was keeping the door firmly shut, and had to resort to pulling the driver, Venkateswara Pasumarti, out through the window with the help of a friend.
The chaos was far from over though, as the driver revealed that his wife was still trapped in the passenger seat, with Susmita Maddi pinned by the ejected air bags.
It suddenly became a race against time with flames rapidly entering the vehicle, and by the time that hydraulic cutters had arrived and cut the door away, the passenger had suffered third-degree burns to her face and inhaled enough smoke to cause serious damage to her lungs.
Walsh recalled that "it's the most horrible thing, to see a human burning," adding that "if I was able to open the doors, I could have gotten them both out before the fire department even got there."
Despite featuring everything you'd want from a 'car of the future', this major issue persists and consistently puts anyone driving a Tesla in danger if they were to crash, with people like Max Walsh desperate for change to be made so no more lives are lost.