I'm curious if we're only seeing these stories because Tesla is such a hot topic.
Ralph Nader made a name for himself writing a book about car companies selling death-traps.
This is how the industry changes — Tesla is not the first.
Or maybe their owners, paying $100K or so a car, feel a little more entitled to receive a safe car for all that dosh?
Does liability law sometimes cause bad collateral damage (like you mentioned here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14187563 with general aviation)? Yes. But that doesn't mean that every lawsuit over a vehicle is inappropriate.
Tesla vehicles are safer than most other vehicles but that isn't an excuse for sub-par design around emergency egress. This story have been "my Tesla crashed and has battery fire but the conveniently-located door override nevertheless let me get out fast" -- I'm disappointed because Tesla could have done better.
At least the car world is more sane than the aviation world. Here's a fun little side story.
Piper aircraft company - they make small general aviation planes - have been out of business a few times from being sued into the ground over absurd stuff. Here's the best one...
Drunk guy shows up to a glider airfield. Hes been banned from said field already, but hes drunk so who cares, right? SO he jumps in a plane, a piper, and starts it up. Owner of the field parks a truck on the runway to prevent a drunk person from taking off... drunk guy proceeds to attempt to take off with predictable results... smashes into the truck.
Then he sues piper and wins enough to bankrupt the company. Because the plane, which was made in the 40s, did not have a shoulder harness, just a lap belt. Because there are laws that say if someone is hurt in something you make, you are liable. This applies to cars too, but the absurdity of it seems to prevent it from taking hold there... Thats why aside from Cessna, there are very few plane manufacturers on the GA level anymore who deliver fully built planes. Most now, sell "kits" which you can assemble yourself (with their help) on-site at their facility. This way, you build 51% of your aircraft, and its not their liability.
This also leads to some crazy stuff. Like, pilots who have done a 51% build and a few years later becoming medically disqualified to fly, DESTROY their plane rather than selling due to the liability since THEY made it...
Gotta love the world we live in sometimes...