European debut of the Tesla model S P90D at the IAA 2015.

A woman is suing Tesla Inc. for products liability and negligence after her husband died, claiming his 2015 Model S suddenly accelerated from 10 to 70 miles per hour seconds before crashing into a tree and catching fire.

Stacey McCarthy sued the high-tech automotive company on behalf of herself and her three children bringing claims related to the November 2016 death of her husband, Kevin McCarthy. According to a complaint filed Tuesday, McCarthy's leased Tesla suddenly and unexpectedly accelerated before it crashed and ignited. The suit claims McCarthy was unable to exit the vehicle due to an alleged door latch malfunction, and for about 20 minutes, he was trapped breathing toxic fumes as flames burned 75% of his body. He died at the hospital from his injuries.

In the complaint, representatives from Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Torrijos in Los Angeles and Slavik Law in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, claim that McCarthy's death was caused by a series of defects known to Tesla, including uncommanded acceleration.

The filing cites nearly 150 product complaints brought to Tesla directly or through the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration or the U.S. Department of Transportation. The case studies listed in the complaint describe uncommanded acceleration, issues with the automatic emergency braking system, door latch defects and fires allegedly caused by the cars' lithium ion battery, all of which contributed to McCarthy's death, according to the complaint.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.

The plaintiffs attorneys allege that these accidents are preventable with technology already in use in other Tesla models. Unlike Tesla's Models S and X, the complaint asserts that there have been no public records of fires in its Model 3 vehicle, which uses the company's patented intumescent fire retardant. “It is believed by some observers that besides the use of intumescent material, battery compartment changes were made to the exterior box structure as well as the interior battery module to improve the overall safety of the battery compartment on the Model 3, which, unfortunately, despite its accessibility, was not the case on the earlier Tesla models, although the technology to do so has been available well prior to the manufacture of the vehicle at issue,” the attorneys write.

Besides suing for products liability and negligence, McCarthy is also bringing claims of breach of warranty and loss of consortium and is seeking special, general and punitive and exemplary damages.

“Without these product defects, we wouldn't have seen these deaths, and we would have families still intact”, said Elise R. Sanguinetti, founding partner at Arias Sanguinetti. “The family really wants to make sure that this doesn't happen to other families, they want to make sure that it's known, and that Tesla does the right thing and is held accountable.”