Following the tragic death of Liverpool’s star Diogo Jota and his younger brother André Silva in a car crash in northern Spain, concerns have arisen over the safety of his Lamborghini’s emergency door-busting mechanism.
Indeed, although the Spanish authorities have cited tire failure and subsequent fire as immediate cause of death, they’re also investigating whether a high-tech safety mechanism designed to release the doors in a rollover may have played a role, per a report by International Business Times on July 2.
Specifically, the two were traveling to Santander to board a ferry back to the UK after Jota underwent lung surgery and was allegedly advised to avoid flying. Shortly after midnight, while driving near Cernadilla in Zamora province, the vehicle reportedly blew a tire while overtaking another vehicle.
Lamborghini’s exploding doors tech
Subsequently, Jota’s Lamborghini Huracán veered off the road and caught fire, killing both. In addition to the initial findings by the Spanish Guardia Civil suggesting excessive speed and sudden tire failure as possibly contributing to the crash, they have now turned attention to the vehicle’s door ejection system.
Notably, certain Huracán models include pyrotechnic bolts designed to detach the doors in case the vehicle rolls over, potentially giving occupants easier escape or giving rescuers better access to the victims. As the doors open vertically by design, they can be challenging in the event of a rollover.
According to some experts, this mechanism, while considered state-of-the-art in supercar design, could compromise structural stability in high-impact situations. For now, it’s unclear whether the door system sprang into action or failed here, but investigators are analyzing whether it had any relevance on to the occupants’ ability to escape or rescuers to reach them.
Additionally, the previous recall notices affecting Lamborghini cars has also resurfaced, including alerts over faulty headlight brackets and door mechanisms – regardless of their potential link to this incident – as part of a wider investigation into the safety of similar vehicles.
Elsewhere, the Italian luxury supercar manufacturer seems to be planning to go fully electric before the end of the decade and could offer up to 2,000 PS of horsepower. It would be based on the Lanzador 2+2 seater GT concept first displayed in 2023 and launched in its production version by 2030.
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