A Fatal Tesla Crash in Texas Sets Up a Legal Showdown
Key takeaways
- The car’s driver, 44-year-old Michael Butler, later told police that he had Tesla’s driver assistance features—which the automaker argues make driving safer and less stressful—engaged during the crash.
- Now Avila’s family is suing not only Butler but also Tesla, alleging that the electric automaker's Full Self-Driving (Supervised) driver assistance feature, also called FSD, played a role in her death.
- Tesla didn’t respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
PHOTOGRAPH: Artistic Operations/Getty Images Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story On a Texas evening last week, a 76-year-old grandmother named Martha Avila was standing in the front room of her suburban home when a Tesla Model 3 hurtled into her brick home at a reported speed of over 70 miles per hour, killing her.
The car’s driver, 44-year-old Michael Butler, later told police that he had Tesla’s driver assistance features—which the automaker argues make driving safer and less stressful—engaged during the crash. Butler exhibited “no signs of intoxication,” the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, which responded to the crash, noted in a report.
Now Avila’s family is suing not only Butler but also Tesla, alleging that the electric automaker's Full Self-Driving (Supervised) driver assistance feature, also called FSD, played a role in her death. The feature is designed to handle certain aspects of driving—including navigating city and residential roads, stopping for red lights and stop signs, and changing lanes—but requires drivers to pay attention and stay ready to intervene if the system makes a mistake. The suit alleges Tesla’s tech “was defective in design and unreasonably dangerous,” lawyers representing Avila’s daughter and son-in-law wrote in a lawsuit filed in Harris County District Court on Tuesday. (The son-in-law, Justin Barbour, was also in the home and injured in the crash.)