Tesla driver pressed accelerator 100% in fatal crash, NTSB says

The National Transportation Safety Board (the US transit safety investigator) said in a preliminary report released Wednesday that the 44-year-old driver of a Tesla had engaged the company’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software while driving on Rose Hollow Lane, a residential two-lane road in Katy, Texas, with a speed limit of 30 miles per hour — then overrode it by pressing the accelerator pedal to 100%. Data recovered from the vehicle showed it was traveling more than 70 miles per hour when it left the road and struck a house, killing 76-year-old resident Martha Avila, according to the agency. The NTSB said the “weather was clear, the roadway was dry, and daylight conditions were present” at the time of the June crash.

The family of Martha Avila has since sued the alleged driver, Michael Butler, and Tesla, claiming negligence over the crash. Butler has also been charged with manslaughter. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (the US auto safety regulator) is separately probing the incident, a review that runs alongside the NTSB’s own investigation — together setting up a dispute over whether Tesla’s software or Butler’s own actions caused the crash. The lawsuit and the criminal case are proceeding separately from the two federal investigations into the crash itself.

The NTSB’s preliminary data lines up with the account Tesla put forward in the days after the crash, when the company said its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system wasn’t to blame for the impact. Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote on X shortly afterward: “This [allegation] makes no sense. FSD drives slowly through neighborhood streets and this was a high speed crash!” Butler allegedly told authorities that he had “passed out” and that he was using Tesla’s driver-assistance system at the time. Police reportedly discovered that his Google searches included the terms “Tesla FSD not aggressive enough 2026,” “Tesla not aggressive enough,” and “Tesla FSD too timid,” according to local ABC news affiliate station KTRK TV.

Why it matters

The NTSB’s preliminary findings support Tesla’s defense that driver override, rather than a failure of the Full Self-Driving software, caused the fatal crash — a distinction that could shield the company from liability in both the family’s negligence lawsuit and the NHTSA’s ongoing probe.