The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Wednesday that the Tesla driver who crashed into a house last June overridden the company’s fully self-driving (supervising) software by pressing the accelerator pedal 100% of the time.
According to the NTSB, data recovered from the Tesla showed the vehicle was traveling more than 70 mph when it crashed into a home in Katy, Texas, killing resident Martha Avila, 76. The victim’s family later sued the alleged driver, 44-year-old Michael Butler, and Tesla, charging them with manslaughter. Butler was also charged with murder.
The safety board shared the information as part of a preliminary report on the progress of the accident investigation. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is also investigating the incident.
The data confirms Tesla’s account of the crash, which the company shared in the days following the accident to show that its advanced driver assistance systems were not to blame. “This (claim) makes no sense. FSD was driving slowly down the neighborhood streets and this was a high speed crash!” Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote to X shortly after the crash.
The NTSB said Wednesday that the 44-year-old driver was using Fully Autonomous Driving (Supervised) on Rose Hollow Lane, a two-lane residential road with a 30 mph speed limit, before the crash. Security camera footage obtained by the safety agency showed the vehicle accelerating past an intersection, leaving the road and crashing into a house. “The weather was clear, the roads were dry, and there were sunny conditions,” according to the NTSB.
Tesla requires drivers using Fully Autonomous Driving (Supervised) to pay attention to the road and be ready to take control at any time. Butler told authorities he was unconscious and was using Tesla’s driver assistance system. Police reportedly found that his Google searches included the words “Tesla FSD is not aggressive enough. 2026,” “Tesla is not aggressive enough,” and “Tesla FSD is too timid,” according to local ABC News affiliate KTRK TV.
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