Tesla driver charged with manslaughter over crash into Texas home
A Texas man has been charged with manslaughter after driving a Tesla (TSLA.O) operating with its automated driving assistance system into a suburban Houston home, killing a 76-year-old grandmother, court papers show.
Michael David Butler, 44, told police he was operating his Model 3 in Full Self-Driving mode on June 19 when he plowed into Martha Avila’s home in Katy, Texas, and told paramedics “the car was on ‘Autopilot,'” according to court papers. Avila died later at a nearby hospital.
According to an arrest affidavit, Butler said he was making a DoorDash delivery run when he changed the music on the Tesla’s touch screen, and eventually “passed out.”
His speed reached 73 miles per hour, more than double the legal limit, and the brake pedal wasn’t used in the minute before the crash, the affidavit said. Butler denied having felt ill, and no alcohol or common street drugs were in his system, the affidavit said.
A lawyer for Butler did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Harris County prosecutors did not immediately respond to a similar request.
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