Tesla faces a wrongful death lawsuit after a Model 3 slammed into a Harris County, Texas home, killing 76-year-old Martha Avila.
The driver, Michael Butler, told police the Full Self-Driving feature was active when he lost control. Police found no mechanical malfunction and say Butler was not intoxicated.
Jennifer Barbour, Avila’s daughter, filed suit this week seeking over $1 million in damages. The complaint alleges two defects: Sudden Unintended Acceleration caused by voltage spikes that falsely trigger the accelerator, and missing obstacle-detection hardware stripped during the chip shortage, leaving the car unable to see the home at the street’s end.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted on X, “FSD drives slowly through neighborhood streets, and this was a high-speed crash!” Vice President of AI Ashok Elluswamy said data shows Butler floored the accelerator to 100%, reaching 73 mph, and kept it pressed after impact.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating. The family has demanded Tesla preserve the vehicle and all related electronic data.