Tesla driver in fatal Texas crash pressed accelerator 100%, NTSB confirms
Quick Answer
The NTSB confirmed that a Tesla driver pressed the accelerator to 100% before a fatal crash in Texas, killing a 76-year-old.
Quick Take
The NTSB confirmed that a Tesla driver pressed the accelerator to 100% before a fatal crash in Texas, killing a 76-year-old. The driver, Michael Butler, faces manslaughter charges and a lawsuit from the victim's family, while Tesla maintains its Full Self-Driving system was not at fault.
Key Points
- Tesla's Full Self-Driving was overridden, leading to a crash at over 70 mph.
- The crash occurred on a residential road with a 30 mph speed limit.
- The driver, Michael Butler, reportedly 'passed out' before the incident.
- NTSB's preliminary report confirms Tesla's claim of system non-fault.
- Victim's family has sued both Butler and Tesla for negligence.
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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Wednesday that the driver of a Tesla who crashed into a house in June had pressed the accelerator pedal to 100%, overriding the company’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software.
Data recovered from the Tesla showed that the vehicle was traveling more than 70 miles per hour when it struck a house in Katy, Texas, killing 76-year-old resident Martha Avila, according to the NTSB. The family of the victim has since sued the alleged driver, 44-year-old Michael Butler, and Tesla, claiming negligence. Butler has also been charged with manslaughter.
The safety board shared the information as part of a preliminary report on the progress of its investigation into the crash. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is also probing the incident.
The data confirms Tesla’s account of the crash, which the company shared in the days after it happened in order to show that its advanced driver assistance system wasn’t to blame. “This [allegation] makes no sense. FSD drives slowly through neighborhood streets and this was a high speed crash!” Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote on X shortly after the crash.
The NTSB said Wednesday that the 44-year-old driver was using Full Self-Driving (Supervised) on Rose Hollow Lane, a residential two-lane road with a speed limit of 30 miles per hour, prior to the crash. Security camera footage obtained by the safety board showed the car accelerating through an intersection, leaving the road, and hitting the house. The “weather was clear, the roadway was dry, and daylight conditions were present,” according to the NTSB.
Tesla requires that drivers using Full Self-Driving (Supervised) pay attention to the road and be ready to take control at any moment. Butler allegedly told authorities that he had “passed out” and that he was using Tesla’s driver assistance system. Police reportedly discovered that his Google searches included the terms “Tesla FSD not aggressive enough 2026,” “Tesla not aggressive enough,” and “Tesla FSD too timid,” according to local ABC news affiliate station KTRK TV.
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Sean O’Kane is a reporter who has spent a decade covering the rapidly-evolving business and technology of the transportation industry, including Tesla and the many startups chasing Elon Musk. Most recently, he was a reporter at Bloomberg News where he helped break stories about some of the most notorious EV SPAC flops. He previously worked at The Verge, where he also covered consumer technology, hosted many short- and long-form videos, performed product and editorial photography, and once nearly passed out in a Red Bull Air Race plane.
You can contact or verify outreach from Sean by emailing sean.okane@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at okane.01 on Signal.
— Originally published at techcrunch.com
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