
More facts coming out about Texas Tesla crash. Driver arrested and charged with manslaughter. Driver's web searches show he was frustrated with FSD because it didn't drive aggressively enough for him. Police investigation also confirms that he overrode FSD.
Tesla self-driving 'not aggressive enough,' driver accused of searching before deadly Katy crash
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/tesla-crash-manslaughter-michael-butler-fsd-22330694.php Site allows limited views before paywalling. Open in incognito mode. Text from article below.
This one's looking like it had nothing to do with FSD or Tesla and everything to do with a dangerous and possibly unhinged driver.
Some of the salient points from the article -
A Harris County Sheriff's Office investigator wrote in a criminal complaint against David Michael Butler that after reviewing crash data and footage, she determined that Butler overrode Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Mode, pressing the accelerator all the way down to “100% pedal to the metal,” before hitting the curb, going airborne and crashing into the home.
..............................................................Officials obtained written consent from Butler to search and seize his Tesla and verbal consent to search his cell phone, Philipbar said in the complaint. Data from the vehicle included “videos from the Tesla’s dash-camera and exterior driver-door camera, as well as logs of the Tesla’s speed, accelerator pedal input, brake pedal input, steering activity, turn signal activity and more.”
Investigators with the sheriff’s office observed “multiple Google searches related to Tesla” made from Butler's phone in May, the complaint said, “indicating an apparent frustration with Tesla’s FSD mode,” or Tesla’s Full-Self Driving Mode.
Butler searched: “teslafsd not aggressive enough 2026 model,” “FSD is not aggressive enough for city driving,” and “tesla fsd too timid,” according to the complaint.
......................................................She alleges Butler pressed the accelerator and overrode self-driving mode when the vehicle was about to turn, and that the steering wheel also changed from left to right, causing the vehicle to go straight into Avila's cul-de-sac instead, the complaint states.
“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 that residential street,” Philipbar stated. The Tesla struck the curb in front of Avila's home before going airborne toward the front of the home, the complaint said.
Philipbar said she researched FSD technology and spoke with a Harris County District Attorney’s Office investigator who had years of experience reconstructing crash scenes and previously analyzed Tesla vehicles involved in fatal crashes.
“FSD mode was designed and is programmed to never travel at excessive or dangerous speeds in any location, unless the driver overrides the speed and gains control of the speed by pressing on the accelerator pedal,” Philipbar stated.