Overview
- On June 19th a 2025 Tesla Model 3 left the road and struck a home in Katy, Texas, fatally injuring 76‑year‑old Martha Avila and injuring other occupants while the driver, Michael Butler, sustained minor injuries.
- The National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary report says the vehicle was in Full Self‑Driving (Supervised) when electronic data show Butler manually depressed the accelerator to 100% and the car exceeded 70 mph before impact.
- Security camera footage recovered by investigators shows the Tesla accelerating through an intersection, leaving the roadway, and striking the residence under clear, dry daylight conditions.
- Federal and local responses are ongoing: the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a special investigation, the NTSB continues its probe to determine probable cause and potential safety recommendations, and Butler faces pending manslaughter charges.
- The victim's family has filed a wrongful‑death suit naming Butler and Tesla, and safety experts caution that while onboard logs record pedal and system states those readings do not by themselves rule out possible mechanical, electrical, or software failure modes that the final NTSB report will need to address.