A Fatal Tesla Crash in Texas Sets Up a Legal Showdown

Did Full Self-Driving (Supervised), Tesla's driver assistance feature, play a role in a woman's death? 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-auto maker's Full Self-Driving (Supervised) driver assistance feature, also called FSD, played a role in her death.