A Texas man has been charged with manslaughter following a tragic incident involving his Tesla, which was operating in its automated driving mode when it crashed into a suburban Houston home. The collision resulted in the death of 76-year-old Martha Avila.
According to court documents, Michael David Butler, 44, indicated that he was using the Model 3’s Full Self-Driving mode at the time of the accident on June 19. Eyewitness accounts reveal that the Tesla plowed into Avila’s residence in Katy, Texas, with Butler later telling paramedics that the vehicle was on “Autopilot.” The elderly woman succumbed to her injuries later at a local hospital.
The arrest affidavit detailed Butler’s actions leading up to the crash. He claimed he was engaged in a DoorDash delivery when he decided to change the music on the car’s touchscreen interface and ultimately “passed out.” The report noted that his vehicle was traveling at 73 miles per hour, which is more than double the legal speed limit in that area. Additionally, it was stated that Butler did not apply the brakes in the minute preceding the crash. Despite these alarming details, he denied feeling unwell, and toxicology tests showed no alcohol or common street drugs in his system.
Legal representation for Butler has yet to publicly comment on the case, as have the prosecutors from Harris County. Tesla has contested Butler’s account of the incident. CEO Elon Musk claimed that a vehicle in Full Self-Driving mode tends to operate at slower speeds on neighborhood streets, while a vice president from the software division asserted that Butler had overridden the system by accelerating aggressively.
In hearings at a probable cause court, bail for Butler was set at $150,000, and he has been mandated to wear an ankle monitor and refrain from driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an investigation into the crash. Since 2016, it has initiated nearly 50 special investigations of Tesla accidents that potentially involve advanced driver assistance systems, with around two dozen fatalities reported over this period.
In a related development, Avila’s family has filed a lawsuit against Tesla, claiming that her wrongful death highlights the company’s gross negligence and failure to adequately warn users about defects in its self-driving technologies.
