A 44-year-old Tesla driver has faced manslaughter charges after his vehicle struck and killed a woman inside her home in Texas. Michael Butler’s Model 3, equipped with Tesla's Full-Self Driving (FSD) system, is alleged to have been driven manually when it ploughed into the residence of 76-year-old Martha Avila on June 19th.
Butler claimed to be using autopilot and that he had passed out before the crash. However, officials found that Butler had pressed the accelerator all the way to 100%, causing the vehicle to reach a speed of over 73 miles per hour – more than double the residential speed limit.
Police noted Google searches on Butler’s phone indicating his frustration with FSD, with terms like 'Tesla fsd not aggressive enough' and similar variations. Tesla AI head Ashok Elluswamy tweeted that Butler had manually overridden autonomous driving by pressing the accelerator fully.
The Avila family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against both Butler and Tesla, while investigations are also underway by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
