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Man charged in Tesla crash that killed woman in Texas home
USA Today • • business
Key Points:
- Michael Butler, a Texas man, was charged with manslaughter after his Tesla Model 3 crashed into a home in Katy, Texas, allegedly while in self-driving mode, killing 76-year-old Martha Avila inside the residence.
- The crash occurred on June 19, with Butler claiming the vehicle's automated driving assistance system was engaged; however, authorities reported he showed no signs of intoxication and cooperated during the investigation.
- Avila's family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Butler and Tesla, alleging negligence and design defects in Tesla's Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems, citing failures in driver monitoring and obstacle detection.
- Tesla disputed that the self-driving system caused the crash, with CEO Elon Musk and Tesla's AI lead stating the driver manually overrode the system and accelerated to high speeds inconsistent with autonomous driving behavior.
- The incident is under investigation by local authorities, the NTSB, and NHTSA, amid ongoing scrutiny and recalls related to Tesla's Autopilot system following multiple crashes and federal safety probes.
