The Tesla Cybertruck’s predilection for chopping vegetables and fake human fingers is well-known, but the infamous pinch hazards have mostly involved the EV’s powered frunk. A Cybertruck owner is now warning others of similar dangers posed by the sharp edges of the electric pickup’s doors after a member of his family suffered a “very serious laceration” by getting a finger caught in the seam between the front and rear doors during a routine family outing. According to the owner, his father-in-law was reaching for the Cybertruck’s pillar-mounted door release but mistook its location and put his hand in the wrong place at the wrong time, just as the man’s son was closing the rear passenger door.
The forum user shared his warning on the Cybertruck Owners Club on Monday, beginning the post by saying that he’s owned his 2024 Tesla Cybertruck since May, logging over 1,500 miles since then. The owner adds that he “absolutely love[s] the truck,” and says he recently had to explain how to open the front door to his father-in-law, who was a first-time rider in the Tesla. He recounts teaching his father-in-law that opening the front door requires pressing the door release button on the truck’s B pillar, which has a small white light denoting its location.
The lesson stuck after a few tries, and the family went on its merry way. But when it was time to return to the truck after dinner, disaster struck. The Cybertruck owner writes, “When my father-in-law reached up to the pillar button to unlock the truck, my son closed his rear passenger door. Whatever circumstance caused it to happen—confusion, looking in the wrong place, distraction—my father-in-law’s finger got closed inside the door gap between back and front doors.”
The owner then goes on to emphasize, “I’m sharing this because I feel Cybertruck owners should be extra aware with multiple people entering and exiting the vehicle on the same side and may not be immediately familiar with where the open button is on the pillar. There is less than an inch between the button and the gap in the door. Someone not paying attention can easily get their finger trapped if the passenger behind the ‘shotgun’ position closes their door at the wrong time.”
The accident prompted a trip to the emergency room, and required “only seven stitches and a splint” for the unfortunate father-in-law whose index finger was crushed in the door seam. Even though the accident could largely be seen as a result of user error, the danger is such that Tesla specifically warns against it in the Cybertruck’s user manual, reminding owners to beware of distractions and miscommunication between front and rear passengers that may lead to bodily harm.
In the “Doors” section of the Cybertruck owner’s manual, a warning from Tesla reads, “Keep hands and fingers away from the opening edge and supervise children if they open and close the doors. This is especially important when handling a front door where the opening edge can cause injury when opening or closing the associated rear door. Neglecting to follow the correct opening procedure for front and rear doors can lead to injury.”
Tesla highlights the interference between the pickup’s doors when front and rear passengers are climbing aboard because it knows of the potential pinch hazards at the seams, but this accident raises another fault in the design of the Cybertruck, which seems to value form over function and, apparently, safety as well. The individual in this case got hurt because he was searching for the door release button on the pillar, which is flush with the pillar itself and very close to the jamb. Tesla could’ve placed the button further away to mitigate the potential for injury, or given it a more prominent shape; that might’ve made it easier to find, too. But then, it wouldn’t have been so sleek, or achieved the desired appearance. Like the truck’s too-big-for-its-own-good single-blade windshield wiper, or its eye-catching wheel covers that slice sidewalls.
You can get a better look at the pickup’s black release button built into its black door pillar in this YouTube video tutorial:
In the above video, the Tesla Flex YouTube channel calls attention to a safety feature built into the Cybertruck’s doors. There’s essentially a stopper in each door that prevents it from immediately closing after its been released, so the driver or passenger can grab the door without it shutting on them. However, the stopper retracts once the door is open fully, so it doesn’t safeguard against injury past that point.
Responders on the Cybertruck Owners Club thread note that pinch and crush hazards have been present on EVs and internal-combustion cars since long before the release of Cybertruck. The consensus on the forum is that fingers caught in door seams are a common injury, but Tesla’s release button placement arguably raises the risks, seemingly in pursuit of exterior design. The owner concludes his warning by saying he’s not bashing the Cybertruck, and just wants others to learn from his and his family’s mistake. A very painful one, at that.
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