Washington
Tesla under investigation after parents say faulty door handles trapped their kids in back
Car safety regulators opened an investigation Tuesday into possible defects in Tesla doors that have reportedly left parents with children trapped in the back seat and forced to break windows to get them out.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that the preliminary probe is focused on 2021 Tesla Model Ys after receiving nine reports of electronic door handles becoming inoperative possibly due to low battery voltage.
The company run by billionaire Elon Musk has installed manual door releases inside the vehicles but NHTSA noted that a child may not be able to reach or know how to operate the releases. In four cases, the parents had to break the windows to get inside.
The investigation into Tesla’s most popular model comes after numerous reported incidents in recent years of other problems with opening Tesla doors, sometime trapping drivers in a burning vehicle after accidents and a loss of power.
In April, a college basketball recruit said he was “fighting time” trying to get out of his Tesla Cybertruck that had caught fire after he had crashed into a tree and was unable to get the doors open. The University of Southern California player, Alijah Arenas, who was induced into a temporary coma after the accident, said he stayed alive by dousing himself with a water bottle as smoke filled the vehicle.
NHTSA said the investigation is only focusing on the operability of the electronic door locks from outside of the vehicle, not inside, as that’s the only instance in which there is no manual way to open the door.
But it also said it will continue to monitor reports of people stuck on the inside — what it calls “entrapment” — and will take further action as needed.
The current agency investigation covers approximately 174,300 of the midsize SUVs.
The agency said the incidents appear to occur when the electronic door locks receive insufficient voltage from the vehicle. It said that available repair invoices indicate that batteries were replaced after such incidents took place. Of those who reported incidents, none saw a low voltage battery warning before the exterior door handles became inoperative.
NHTSA said that its preliminary evaluation will look at the scope and severity of the condition, including the risks that come from the conditions that have been reported to them.
The agency’s investigation will also assess the approach used by Tesla to supply power to the door locks and the reliability of the applicable power supplies.
North Carolina
Former Rep. Wiley Nickel is running to become the top prosecutor in North Carolina’s largest county
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A former North Carolina Democratic congressman whose bid for U.S. Senate ended several weeks ago announced Tuesday that he is running to become the top prosecutor in the state’s largest county.
Ex-U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel, who also served previously as a state legislator, said he wants to become the next Wake County district attorney. Current DA Lorrin Freeman has said she will not seek another four-year term in 2026.
Nickel, a lawyer who also once worked as a White House staffer in Barack Obama’s administration, said in a news release that he’s running to bring his experience “back to the local level and drive real change for our criminal justice system.”
Nickel was elected in 2022 to the U.S. House from a Raleigh-area swing district. But he decided against seeking a second term in 2024 because he said the district’s redrawing by the General Assembly made it essentially impossible to win again.
Nickel formally launched a 2026 U.S. Senate campaign this past April, but he stepped aside in late July the day after former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper entered that race and Nickel endorsed Cooper.
Nickel’s kickoff statement Tuesday hit on national themes, accusing President Donald Trump and “right-wing extremists” of “trying to take away our freedoms.”
“I’m running to increase support for police and first responders and to make sure our justice system is more fair, more accountable, and more focused on real public safety,” Nickel said. “In this moment, we need a District Attorney who will stand up for our rights and freedoms, hold corrupt politicians accountable, and defend our Constitution.”
At least two other Democrats are running for the post, including longtime Wake County DA office prosecutor Melanie Shekita and Sherita Walton, now a Raleigh city attorney who advises the police department.
The Wake County post may be the most high-profile local prosecutor in the state because the job often handles government corruption and election law violation cases.
Party primaries will be held in March, with the general election in the Democratic-leaning county scheduled for November 2026.
Oklahoma
Court stops social studies standards with 2020 election misinformation from taking effect
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Supreme Court temporarily put on hold proposed new social studies standards for K-12 public school students that include conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
The state’s high court issued a temporary stay on Monday while a lawsuit challenging the new standards is being litigated. The court’s order directs the State Department of Education to keep the previous social studies standards in place while the case is being decided.
At the direction of state Superintendent Ryan Walters, the standards were revised to include new language about the 2020 election and that the source of the COVID-19 virus was a Chinese lab, among other changes.
A group of parents and educators filed lawsuit in May, asking a judge to reject the standards, arguing they were not reviewed properly and that they “represent a distorted view of social studies that intentionally favors an outdated and blatantly biased perspective.”
Leaders in the Republican-led Oklahoma Legislature introduced a resolution earlier this year to reject the standards, but there wasn’t enough GOP support to pass it.
In a statement Tuesday, Walters said the Supreme Court was “embarrassing” and out of step with most Oklahomans.
Tesla under investigation after parents say faulty door handles trapped their kids in back
Car safety regulators opened an investigation Tuesday into possible defects in Tesla doors that have reportedly left parents with children trapped in the back seat and forced to break windows to get them out.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that the preliminary probe is focused on 2021 Tesla Model Ys after receiving nine reports of electronic door handles becoming inoperative possibly due to low battery voltage.
The company run by billionaire Elon Musk has installed manual door releases inside the vehicles but NHTSA noted that a child may not be able to reach or know how to operate the releases. In four cases, the parents had to break the windows to get inside.
The investigation into Tesla’s most popular model comes after numerous reported incidents in recent years of other problems with opening Tesla doors, sometime trapping drivers in a burning vehicle after accidents and a loss of power.
In April, a college basketball recruit said he was “fighting time” trying to get out of his Tesla Cybertruck that had caught fire after he had crashed into a tree and was unable to get the doors open. The University of Southern California player, Alijah Arenas, who was induced into a temporary coma after the accident, said he stayed alive by dousing himself with a water bottle as smoke filled the vehicle.
NHTSA said the investigation is only focusing on the operability of the electronic door locks from outside of the vehicle, not inside, as that’s the only instance in which there is no manual way to open the door.
But it also said it will continue to monitor reports of people stuck on the inside — what it calls “entrapment” — and will take further action as needed.
The current agency investigation covers approximately 174,300 of the midsize SUVs.
The agency said the incidents appear to occur when the electronic door locks receive insufficient voltage from the vehicle. It said that available repair invoices indicate that batteries were replaced after such incidents took place. Of those who reported incidents, none saw a low voltage battery warning before the exterior door handles became inoperative.
NHTSA said that its preliminary evaluation will look at the scope and severity of the condition, including the risks that come from the conditions that have been reported to them.
The agency’s investigation will also assess the approach used by Tesla to supply power to the door locks and the reliability of the applicable power supplies.
North Carolina
Former Rep. Wiley Nickel is running to become the top prosecutor in North Carolina’s largest county
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A former North Carolina Democratic congressman whose bid for U.S. Senate ended several weeks ago announced Tuesday that he is running to become the top prosecutor in the state’s largest county.
Ex-U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel, who also served previously as a state legislator, said he wants to become the next Wake County district attorney. Current DA Lorrin Freeman has said she will not seek another four-year term in 2026.
Nickel, a lawyer who also once worked as a White House staffer in Barack Obama’s administration, said in a news release that he’s running to bring his experience “back to the local level and drive real change for our criminal justice system.”
Nickel was elected in 2022 to the U.S. House from a Raleigh-area swing district. But he decided against seeking a second term in 2024 because he said the district’s redrawing by the General Assembly made it essentially impossible to win again.
Nickel formally launched a 2026 U.S. Senate campaign this past April, but he stepped aside in late July the day after former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper entered that race and Nickel endorsed Cooper.
Nickel’s kickoff statement Tuesday hit on national themes, accusing President Donald Trump and “right-wing extremists” of “trying to take away our freedoms.”
“I’m running to increase support for police and first responders and to make sure our justice system is more fair, more accountable, and more focused on real public safety,” Nickel said. “In this moment, we need a District Attorney who will stand up for our rights and freedoms, hold corrupt politicians accountable, and defend our Constitution.”
At least two other Democrats are running for the post, including longtime Wake County DA office prosecutor Melanie Shekita and Sherita Walton, now a Raleigh city attorney who advises the police department.
The Wake County post may be the most high-profile local prosecutor in the state because the job often handles government corruption and election law violation cases.
Party primaries will be held in March, with the general election in the Democratic-leaning county scheduled for November 2026.
Oklahoma
Court stops social studies standards with 2020 election misinformation from taking effect
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Supreme Court temporarily put on hold proposed new social studies standards for K-12 public school students that include conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
The state’s high court issued a temporary stay on Monday while a lawsuit challenging the new standards is being litigated. The court’s order directs the State Department of Education to keep the previous social studies standards in place while the case is being decided.
At the direction of state Superintendent Ryan Walters, the standards were revised to include new language about the 2020 election and that the source of the COVID-19 virus was a Chinese lab, among other changes.
A group of parents and educators filed lawsuit in May, asking a judge to reject the standards, arguing they were not reviewed properly and that they “represent a distorted view of social studies that intentionally favors an outdated and blatantly biased perspective.”
Leaders in the Republican-led Oklahoma Legislature introduced a resolution earlier this year to reject the standards, but there wasn’t enough GOP support to pass it.
In a statement Tuesday, Walters said the Supreme Court was “embarrassing” and out of step with most Oklahomans.
