The man in a fatal Tesla crash in Texas pressed the accelerator to 100 per cent before colliding with a house and killing a 76-year-old woman, according to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.
Investigators said Michael Butler was driving a Tesla Model 3 when he failed to maintain a single lane, left the roadway and crashed into the residence on June 19, according to a news release from police.
The Texas man’s Tesla entered through the brick residence at high speed and struck Martha Avila, who was inside, police said.
Police said the woman was taken by a medical helicopter to a hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
Butler, who has been charged with manslaughter in connection with the woman’s death, told police that the vehicle was on autopilot at the time of the crash.
A report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that Butler had actually overridden the feature when he pushed hard on the pedal.
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“Electronic data recovered from the vehicle indicated that before the crash, the driver manually overrode FSD (Supervised) by pressing the accelerator pedal to 100%, and the vehicle’s speed was greater than 70 mph when the crash occurred. As a result of the crash, an occupant in the residence was fatally injured and the driver sustained minor injuries,” the report said.
The NTSB also notes that at the time of the crash, the weather was clear, the roadway was dry and daylight conditions were present.
“All aspects of the crash remain under investigation while the NTSB determines the probable cause, with the intent of issuing safety recommendations to prevent similar crashes,” the report added.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has also opened a special crash investigation into the deadly crash.
The crash last month drew national attention because Tesla CEO Elon Musk is seeking to reassure the public that its self-driving feature is safe as he prepares to turn hundreds of thousands of Teslas already on the road into fully automatic vehicles and begin selling two-seated Cybercabs missing steering wheels and pedals.
Musk appeared to address the reports of the crash on June 22, writing on X, “This makes no sense. FSD (Full Self-Driving) drives slowly through neighborhood streets and this was a high-speed crash!”
Ashok Elluswamy, vice-president of autopilot for Tesla, also commented on the crash on X, writing, “Yup. In this case, the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accelerator pedal in this residential area. They reached a speed of 73 mph during the crash, and had the accelerator pressed even after the crash.”
Since the crash, Avila’s family has announced it is suing Tesla and Butler following the fatal crash.
Avila’s daughter, Jennifer Barbour, and her husband, Justin Barbour, filed a lawsuit in Harris County District Court, alleging a “design defect” involving Tesla and a failure to warn, according to NBC News, ABC News and the Houston Chronicle.
Global News has not independently viewed the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also alleges negligence against Tesla and the car’s driver, Butler, as a defendant, according to the outlets.
Avila’s family alleges the Tesla was in autopilot mode and that the system has “a history of known danger,” NBC News reports.
The lawsuit reportedly cites a 2023 Washington Post analysis of government data that “identified at least 17 fatal incidents linked to Tesla’s Autopilot,” according to the lawsuit, obtained by NBC News.
“The actions and inactions of Defendant Butler were done with reckless disregard for a substantial risk of severe bodily injury,” the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit seeks more than US$1 million in damages.
Global News has reached out to Tesla for comment on the lawsuit, but hasn’t received a response.
—With files from The Associated Press
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