Following the recent tragic accident in mid-June, when a Tesla Model 3 crashed into a home, preliminary findings from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) show that the driver overrode FSD.
The driver, 44-year-old Michael Butler, claimed that the vehicle was running on FSD and that it autonomously accelerated into the home, resulting in the death of 76-year-old Martha Avila. However, the investigation has now confirmed that the driver overrode the vehicle’s speed by pressing the accelerator pedal.
Manual Override
A common misunderstanding in reporting is that FSD can override human input. In reality, FSD instantly yields to human intervention. However, due to the inconsistent nature of how FSD deals with human input, we can understand how casual drivers can be confused. For example, tugging on the steering wheel or hitting the brake pedal disengages FSD entirely. However, pressing the accelerator pedal keeps FSD engaged, with the human controlling the vehicle’s speed, while FSD continues to steer.
This used to be even more confusing just a year or two ago. Back then, overriding the steering wheel would kick the vehicle into Traffic-Aware Cruise Control, disabling auto steer, but the vehicle would still control its speed.
In the case of the crash in Katy, Texas, the NTSB retrieved electronic data confirming that Butler pressed the accelerator pedal down completely, likely meaning to tap the brake, and when the vehicle accelerated, he doubled down and pressed the pedal down completely.
At that point, the driver was now choosing the vehicle’s speed, although FSD remained active. The software yielded control as engineered, allowing the driver to manually propel the Model 3 to speeds exceeding 70 mph within a 30-mph residential zone.
Telemetry Versus Narratives
The NTSB’s preliminary report serves as an example of just why connected vehicle telemetry is so useful. With nearly any other vehicle, investigators would be forced to rely on forensic skid marks and subjective testimony to reconstruct the accident.
Today, Tesla’s onboard data logging provides an indisputable, millisecond-by-millisecond accounting of both driver and system state. Shortly after the crash, Tesla's Vice President of AI Software, Ashok Elluswamy, disclosed that the data showed a full manual override. The NTSB report now formally validates that early corporate transparency.
While Butler claimed to authorities that he had "passed out" at the wheel, the sustained pressure applied to the accelerator pedal paints a different picture.
Perhaps the most revealing detail to emerge from the investigation is not in the vehicle data report but on the driver's phone. Law enforcement reportedly uncovered recent Google searches made by Butler, including queries complaining that Tesla's FSD was "not aggressive enough" and "too timid."
The biggest takeaway for those who use FSD every day is simple. The system is designed to operate in a manner that prioritizes safety.
