Texas man charged with manslaughter in Tesla crash that killed a woman in her home: Sheriff

A Texas man has been arrested on a manslaughter charge after his Tesla crashed into a home last month while he claimed it was in self-driving mode, killing a woman inside the residence, authorities said.

The driver, Michael Butler, was arrested on Wednesday and booked at the Harris County Jail, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
Butler remained in custody on Thursday following a court hearing in which a magistrate set his bond at $150,000, according to jail records. He did not enter a plea.
Butler’s next court hearing is scheduled for Monday.

The fatal crash allegedly involving Butler unfolded on June 19 in the Houston suburb of Katy, Texas, according to the sheriff’s office.
Butler was traveling in his Tesla Model 3 around 8 p.m. local time and claimed the vehicle was operating “with an automated driving assistance system,” the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Butler allegedly failed to drive in a single lane, left the roadway and crashed through the front of a two-story brick residence, according to the sheriff’s office.

Butler’s car allegedly drove into the front room of the home, pinning 76-year-old Martha Avila, the sheriff’s office said.
Avila was airlifted to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, the sheriff’s office said.
Investigators said Butler, who was injured, showed no signs of intoxication and was cooperating with investigators.
It was unclear on Thursday if Butler had hired an attorney.

Avila’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit last month in Harris County District Court seeking at least $1 million in damages and alleging Tesla and Butler were negligent.
“FSD [full self-driving] drives slowly through neighborhood streets and this was a high-speed crash!” Musk said in his post.
In a separate online post, Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s head of artificial intelligence, responded to Musk, alleging that the self-driving mode on Butler’s vehicle was manually overridden.
“Yup. In this case, the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accel pedal in this residential area,” Elluswamy claimed in his post. “They reached a speed of 73 mph during the crash, and had the accelerator pressed even after the crash.”
The crash is being investigated by local authorities, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Transportation Safety Board.