Paris Marx is joined by Dara Kerr to discuss how Elon’s decision to prioritize aesthetics over safety has created a safety crisis causing people to burn alive in their Cybertrucks and other Tesla vehicles. Dara Kerr is a technology reporter at Guardian US. Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon. The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: Dara wrote about fiery, deadly crashes involving Cybertrucks. Bloomberg has tracked the wider problem of Tesla door handles trapping occupants in their vehicles. Here is a report that supports the suggestion that Musk doesn’t like the colour yellow. Here is an analysis comparing the Cybertruck to the Ford Pinto. Cybertrucks are not approved for sale in the EU or UK. China is the first nation to legislate that handles must be mechanically functional from both sides of a vehicle door. Support the show

Cybertrucks Are a Safety Disaster w/ Dara Kerr

Tech Won't Save Us

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** Tech Won't Save Us

## Transcript

All these people dying because of the door handles is a serious problem. And regulators in other places are looking at it. China is looking at banning these like flush electric door handles. There's been a lot of incidents with electric cars in China that have copied the Tesla aesthetic that where people have died. So it does seem though that they should already be doing something. I don't know. It's been kind of a long time.

Hello and welcome to Tech Won't Save Us made in partnership with The Nation magazine. I'm your host, Paris Marx. And this month, Tech Won't Save Us is celebrating its sixth birthday. And we're asking you, the listeners, to consider signing up on Patreon.com to help me keep doing this show, to help me keep interviewing these critical experts so that you have a better understanding of how the tech industry works, what these billionaires are up to, and how they're impacting the world that we all live in.

And of course, degrading it over time, which is not what we want to see happen. And you know, every now and then we talk about what an alternative might look like, how we might address these problems, what a better future could actually be. And that's so important. So if you do enjoy those conversations, if you do enjoy the work that I do as part of Tech Wont Save Us, I would ask you to consider going over to patreon.com slash tech won't save us to help us get 100 new supporters this month to celebrate the show's anniversary birthday, whatever you want to call it.

You know, we're already making good progress toward that goal. But you can help us, you know, try to meet it. And I would really appreciate that, obviously. So thank you so much. If you enjoy the show, consider going over to patreon to support us. Of course, you'll get access to ad free episodes of the show, premium episodes of the show that we do every now and then. And there's going to be more of those in the next few months as we launch a new series.

And of course, if you support at a certain tier $10 a month and above, you will get stickers as well. So you know, there's plenty of reason to sign up, even beyond supporting Tech Wont Save Us. So thanks so much. Now, shifting to this week's episode, my guest is Dara Kerr. Dara is a tech reporter at The Guardian in the United States. And, you know, there are many things that I could talk about with Dara, but she had this fantastic story recently about cybertrucks, and in particular about the problem

of people being stuck inside of cybertrucks when they catch on fire and how hard it can be to actually get out of them. This is not just a cybertruck problem, it's a broader Tesla problem. But with the cybertruck, it becomes even worse, because the door handles are an issue in many of the Teslas, you know, these cars that don't have proper door handles, and they're more of an electronic release. And so if something happens to the car, if it loses the ba...

Cybertrucks Are a Safety Disaster w/ Dara Kerr

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.

Cybertrucks Are a Safety Disaster w/ Dara Kerr

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.