Authorities charged a Texas man with manslaughter after investigators found the accelerator pedal pressed all the way down on his Tesla Model 3 before it crashed into a home, killing a grandmother.
Michael David Butler, 44, had been using Tesla’s self-driving mode as he made DoorDash pickups and deliveries. However, moments before his Tesla crashed into a home, taking the life of an elderly woman, its accelerator was pressed “pedal to the metal,” overriding the electric vehicle’s self-driving features, according to The Washington Post.
The victim, Martha Avila, 76, had been standing in the front room of her home when the Tesla struck a curb in front of her house and went airborne barreling into her home. She was airlifted to the hospital but was later pronounced dead, according to ABC News.
“In about six seconds, the accelerator pedal was pressed all the way down to 100%, ‘pedal to the metal’ and the vehicle reached a speed of 73 miles per hour, more than double the speed limit on the residential street,” Jae Philipbar, a deputy sheriff and investigator with the sheriff office in Harris County said according to the Houston Chronicle.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for additional comment.
Investigators found that Butler had made multiple google searches about Tesla’s self-driving mode not being “aggressive enough,” before crashing into the home, according to the outlet. Butler had been “indicating an apparent frustration with Tesla’s Full Self Driving mode.”
Philipbar reviewed data from the vehicle and said Butler had, “activated and used full-self driving mode to operate the Tesla to travel to multiple DoorDash pick-ups and deliveries in the hours and minutes leading up to the crash, without experiencing any mechanical failure, collisions, or other driving incidents,” according to the Houston Chronicle.
“FSD mode was designed and is programmed to never travel at excessive or dangerous speeds in any locations, unless the driver overrides the speed and gains control of the speed by pressing on the accelerator pedal,” the deputy sheriff said, according to the outlet.
Avila’s family members filed a lawsuit against Tesla after the incident seeking $1 million in damages, according to the Houston Chronicle.
All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!
