A driver in a Tesla that was allegedly in self-driving mode crashed into a house on Friday night (June 19), killing a woman who was inside the home, investigators have said. Michael Butler was travelling in his Tesla Model 3 around 8pm local time in Katy, Texas, and was operating the electric vehicle “with an automated driving assistance system” when the incident occurred, the Harris County Sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Mr Butler allegedly failed to drive in a single lane, left the roadway and struck the residence of a 76-year-old woman on Rose Hollow Lane, close to Westgreen Boulevard and Highland Knolls in western Harris County. The victim, identified as Martha Avila, was airlifted to a hospital, where doctors later declared her dead. Mr Butler was also injured in the crash and taken to hospital by ambulance, but investigators said there were no signs that he was intoxicated and added that he was assisting officers with the inquiry.
“Butler’s Tesla entered through the brick residence, at a high rate of speed, and struck M. Avila, who was inside the residence,” the office said in a statement, ABC News reported.
Bryan Diaz, a neighbour, told ABC7 Eyewitness News that the Tesla seemed to be moving very fast before it failed to stop and slammed into the property.
Ms Avila was in the front room of the house when the car smashed through the wall. Jennifer Barbour, her daughter, told KENS 5 News that she was in the back garden when she heard a loud explosion-like sound. She immediately checked on her husband and three children, and after the dust and smoke cleared, she realised her mother had been struck.
“She was super healthy, she was 76, on no medication, nothing, had no health issues. She would have made it to 100 like my grandma. So I think her life was cut very short […] She didn’t deserve to go that way,” she told the outlet.
The investigation is ongoing, and as of Saturday (June 20), no charges have been filed.
Tesla Autopilot is a hands-on driver-assistance system (ADAS) designed to handle steering, accelerating and braking automatically within its lane on the motorway. It is a Level 2 autonomous system, meaning it requires active driver supervision at all times and does not make the vehicle fully autonomous, according to Tesla’s website.
In March, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched a preliminary investigation into approximately 2.9 million of Elon Musk’s vehicles equipped with the company’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) Supervised or Beta software – an advanced upgrade to the ADAS designed to navigate city streets, traffic lights and turns – following reports of more than 50 traffic safety violations and crashes.
