Latest news with #Arenas
Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Toronto Sun
Basketball star Alijah Arenas recounts fiery Tesla Cybertruck crash: 'Panic Mode'
The April crash, after the steering wheel of his electric pickup lost responsiveness, left him in an induced coma Published Jun 26, 2025 • Last updated 5 minutes ago • 2 minute read Alijah Arenas Photo by Natasha Campos / Getty Images Star college basketball recruit Alijah Arenas spoke publicly for the first time about the Tesla Cybertruck crash that left him in an induced coma, casting fresh attention on safety issues with the EV maker's newest model. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The University of Southern California freshman and son of former all-star player Gilbert Arenas told reporters during a press conference Wednesday that the steering wheel of his electric pickup lost responsiveness before he drove into a fire hydrant in Los Angeles in April. He awoke to the Cybertruck engulfed in flames and struggled to breathe as the cabin filled with smoke. 'I try to open the door, and the door's not opening,' Arenas said. 'I didn't think I had enough time.' Arenas said he jumped into the back seat of the car to 'check for any cracks, anything, anything I could use to get out. I start panicking, just rushing to get out.' Eventually, Arenas managed to kick through one of the Cybertruck's windows and was pulled out by bystanders. He was put into a medically induced coma due to extreme smoke inhalation and was released from the hospital less than a week after the crash. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. A Tesla Cybertruck. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg Photo by David Paul Morris / Bloomberg Tesla Inc. advises customers in the Cybertruck owner's manual that, in the event the vehicle has no low-voltage power, occupants are unable to use the buttons that open doors from the inside. Exiting the vehicle instead requires using manual door releases designed to be used only in situations when the truck has no power. The Cybertruck was one of the most anticipated new vehicles of the last few years in the US auto market. Within 15 months of sales, however, Tesla recalled the model eight times. In its latest safety campaign initiated in March, the company called back all the Cybertrucks it had produced and sold to replace pieces of steel trim that risked coming loose and creating a hazard for other motorists. Tesla has touted the Cybertruck's five-star crash safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and featured a crash-testing image in its latest earnings report. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Our vehicles consistently achieve top safety ratings from independent agencies around the world. Cybertruck received a 5-star rating from NHTSA as well,' Tesla said in a March post on X. The company didn't respond to a request for comment on Arenas' remarks. Door Precedent The Cybertruck door issue has come up before. The family of one of three college students who died in a Cybertruck that crashed near Oakland, California, in November filed a wrongful death lawsuit earlier this year in a bid to gain access to the pickup and better understand how their daughter died. An autopsy showed Krysta Tsukahara, 19, wasn't physically injured by the crash itself. Instead, she died of asphyxiation when she couldn't open the doors. Tsukahara's father, Carl, told Bloomberg News in April that one of the questions he hoped the suit would answer was: 'Why couldn't Krysta get out?' Arenas said he didn't want to place blame on anybody else for the single-vehicle crash he was involved in. 'I want to take full responsibility on everything I do,' he said. 'If I would have hurt somebody, that would have really took a toll on me.' Tesla shares traded up 0.2% as of 7 a.m. Thursday in New York. The stock has fallen 19% this year. Sunshine Girls Music Canada Toronto Raptors Relationships
New York Post
3 days ago
- Automotive
- New York Post
Alijah Arenas details what went wrong in horrifying crash: ‘As if I wasn't in the car'
Alijah Arenas detailed the frightening car crash that put him in a medically induced coma during a press conference on Tuesday. The son of former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas and an incoming USC basketball freshman said he was heading home from shooting practice on April 24 when his Cybertruck suddenly lost control, crashing into a fire hydrant and a tree. 'I switched lanes without meaning to, and I knew something was wrong, and next thing you know, I can't get back to the left lane,' Arenas, 18, said. 'So then a car is coming towards me, and I think that I'll just pull over. So I speed up to pull over to the right in a neighborhood because there are cars parked on the street I'm on to the right. But when I'm speeding up to turn, I can't stop. The wheel wasn't responding to me as if I wasn't in the car.' Advertisement Chatsworth High School basketball player Alijah Arenas practices on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Los Angeles. AP After the crash, Arenas said he went in and out of consciousness as his vehicle burst into flames. Eventually, two onlookers helped Arenas out of the burning car before he was rushed to the hospital. Advertisement 'I went into panic mode, instinctively, checked my surroundings,' he said. 'I couldn't see outside the car because of all the fog.' Despite the vehicle troubles, Arenas blamed himself for the scary incident. Alijah Arenas, of Chatsworth High School in California, who has committed to USC next year, takes questions during the McDonald's All American Games Media Day, Monday, March 31, 2025 in New York. AP 'Honestly, I take full responsibility for the crash, whether it was me, another car, a malfunction,' Arenas said. 'I don't want to put anyone else in this situation, the people who made the car, anything like that. I take full responsibility.' Advertisement Arenas was released from the hospital about a week after the accident and has since made a full recovery. 'I've been good,' Arenas said during his media availability. 'I've been really getting back into it, especially where I was to where I am now. I feel like I've gotten a lot better. And then especially seeing my teammates, it's really motivated me a lot to push forward and to keep up with the team. 'Getting out of the hospital, that was my main focus. I already thought about the team.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
USC commit Alijah Arenas recalls Cybertruck crash that left him in a coma: ‘I was trying to fight time'
Roughly two months after he was involved in a car crash and placed into a medically induced coma , USC basketball recruit Alijah Arenas is opening up about his horrifying experience. Arenas crashed his Tesla Cybertruck into a tree in Southern California while on his way back from the gym early on April 24. He lost control of the vehicle, crashed into a fire hydrant and slammed into a tree. Advertisement Arenas said Tuesday that, after waking up about three minutes after crashing, he started to panic when he realized that smoke was filling the car and he couldn't get the doors open. The Cybertruck's keypad and steering wheel weren't responding properly, and he couldn't unlock the car manually or through the Tesla app on his phone. The front dashboard, he added, was on fire too. 'I woke up to something I've never been in before,' he said, via InsideTroy. 'I've never been in a car that was hot, it felt like a really hot sauna.' Eventually, Arenas moved to the back seat and tried to break the window. He passed out briefly in the back seat, but woke up about 30 seconds later. Arenas later poured water on himself to try and cool his body down. Eventually, after nearly 10 minutes in the burning car, Arenas broke through the driver's side window with help from others who had rushed in to help him and he escaped. 'I was trying to fight time the whole time in the car,' he said. Arenas was deemed stable at the scene, but he was taken to a local hospital and eventually placed into a medically induced coma due to smoke inhalation. He ended up spending six days in the hospital, but avoided major injuries. Advertisement Arenas, the son of former Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas, is a five-star USC commit. The 6-foot-6 guard played at Chatsworth High School in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. He helped lead the school to the CIF Division II state title game in March, and he left the school as the all-time City Section scoring leader. He had offers from Kansas and Kentucky, among others, before landing at USC. Arenas said when he first woke up that he was worried that he had hit somebody else. His parents said the first thing he did when he woke up in the hospital was write on a piece of paper and ask, 'Did anyone get hurt?' Advertisement Thankfully, nobody else was involved.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Alijah Arenas says he was 'fighting time' as he tried to escape burning truck after accident
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California basketball recruit Alijah Arenas has provided the first details of the car crash that left him in an induced coma in April. Initially disoriented after crashing his Tesla Cybertruck into a tree, Arenas said he felt panic as smoke filled the front cabin and the doors wouldn't open. Advertisement 'I was fighting time,' Arenas said during a news conference Tuesday. Arenas, who's father Gilbert played in the NBA, was involved in the single-car crash last April when he said the Cybertruck's keypad and steering wheel wouldn't respond. Arenas said he awoke to find the passenger side of the dashboard engulfed in flames and tried to use his digital key to escape, only to find the Tesla app had locked him out. 'I tried to open the door and the door wasn't opening,' he said. Arenas moved to the back seat and tried to break out the window, but wasn't able to. He doused himself with a water bottle to cool his body down and spent nearly 10 minutes in the burning car before finally busting out the driver's side window and falling into a few inches of water from a broken fire hydrant as bystanders helped pull him to safety. Advertisement Arenas spent six days in the hospital following the accident but did not suffer major injuries. ___ AP college basketball: and The Associated Press
Hamilton Spectator
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Hamilton Spectator
Alijah Arenas says he was ‘fighting time' as he tried to escape burning truck after accident
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California basketball recruit Alijah Arenas has provided the first details of the car crash that left him in an induced coma in April. Initially disoriented after crashing his Tesla Cybertruck into a tree, Arenas said he felt panic as smoke filled the front cabin and the doors wouldn't open. 'I was fighting time,' Arenas said during a news conference Tuesday. Arenas, who's father Gilbert played in the NBA, was involved in the single-car crash last April when he said the Cybertruck's keypad and steering wheel wouldn't respond. Arenas said he awoke to find the passenger side of the dashboard engulfed in flames and tried to use his digital key to escape, only to find the Tesla app had locked him out. 'I tried to open the door and the door wasn't opening,' he said. Arenas moved to the back seat and tried to break out the window, but wasn't able to. He doused himself with a water bottle to cool his body down and spent nearly 10 minutes in the burning car before finally busting out the driver's side window and falling into a few inches of water from a broken fire hydrant as bystanders helped pull him to safety. Arenas spent six days in the hospital following the accident but did not suffer major injuries. ___ AP college basketball: and
