The Highway Patrol’s investigation into a November Cybertruck crash in Piedmont where three college kids died is finding two very Tesla problems: the vehicle immediately caught fire, and its doors would not open.

A November Tesla Cybertruck crash in Piedmont killed three college sophomores when the vehicle hit a cement wall and burst into flames, but another motorist was able to pull a fourth rider out of the car, and that rider survived. We later learned the other motorist was Piedmont High grad Matt Riordan, who’d been attending a party that night with the crash victims. And we also learned the three victims had alcohol and cocaine in their systems, while the 19-year-old Cybertruck driver who died also had meth in his system.  

So the California Highway Patrol (CHP) has since blamed the crash itself on intoxication, and the high speed at which the vehicle was traveling on a small, residential road. So that would seem to rule out any kind of snafu on the part of Tesla self-driving technology.

But the Bay Area News Group has been going through the testimony of the CHP investigation. And the deaths appear to be more the result of the vehicle fire, as opposed to drugs, or injuries the victims sustained in the crash. And troublingly, that testimony also showed the Cybertruck’s doors could not be opened in the aftermath of the crash, preventing Riordan from pulling the other three victims from the flaming wreckage.  

Roirdan said that when he approached the burning vehicle, and tried to open the doors, they would not open. He said he “pulled for a few seconds, but nothing budged at all.” He also said “I then tried the button on the windshield of [survivor Jordan Miller’s] door, then [victim Krysta Tsukahara’s] door.”

He said he then pounded the windows with his fists, which did not work, and then struck the windows with a thick tree branch around a dozen times until he was able to crack and dislodge a passenger-side window. That was how he was able to pull Jordan Miller out of the vehicle.

But when he attempted to pull Tsukahara from that same window, Riordan testified, "I grabbed her arm to try and pull her towards me, but she retreated because of the fire."

In another heartbreaking detail, we learned that the crash happened when the Cybertruck was just two blocks from the home that the victims were heading to.

The CHP’s investigation is ongoing, and the crash is also still under investigation by the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration.

Related: Three Dead, One Injured In Early Morning Fiery Cybertruck Crash In Piedmont [SFist]

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