A Texas man whose Tesla sedan was in an automated driver-assistance system mode when it crashed into a house last month in Katy, Texas, and killed a woman inside has been charged with manslaughter, court records show.
Michael Butler, 44, was operating his Tesla Model 3 using the autopilot function on June 19 when the vehicle left the road traveling at a “high rate of speed,” striking and entering the home of Martha Avila, 76, who was inside, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said.
Ms. Avila was taken by a medical helicopter to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, the sheriff’s office said.
Mr. Butler was charged on Wednesday with one count of manslaughter and is being held in the Harris County jail on $150,000.00 bond, court records show.
It was not clear if Mr. Butler has a lawyer.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the main federal auto safety agency, opened an investigation into the crash last month.
A front-door video camera that captured the crash showed the Tesla plowing into the house through its driveway. Ms. Avila was standing in the front room of her house at the time of the crash, officials said.
Mr. Butler showed no signs of intoxication and was cooperative during the investigation, officials said.
A Tesla executive, Ashok Elluswamy, who is in charge of the company’s artificial intelligence software, said on X late last month that the driver “manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator.” He added that the car had accelerated to 73 miles an hour.
The autopilot function, Tesla’s driver-assistance technology, is a popular feature among drivers, but over the years it has raised concerns and been connected to various accidents. Tesla’s owners’ manuals tell drivers that they should keep their hands on the wheel and take over if anything goes wrong.
In 2023, Tesla recalled more than two million vehicles after federal regulators said the automaker had not done enough to ensure that drivers remained attentive when using the software that can steer, accelerate and brake cars automatically.
In 2024, Tesla settled a lawsuit that blamed the automaker’s driver-assistance software for the death of a California man in 2018.
