Crash Victim's Family Sues Tesla, Driver

A fatal crash involving a Tesla barreling into a Houston-area home has now sparked a lawsuit targeting both the driver and the automaker. The daughter and son-in-law of 76-year-old Martha Avila, killed when a Model 3 slammed through her brick house in Katy, Texas, on Friday night, sued Tesla and driver Michael Butler in Harris County District Court on Monday, alleging a defective design and negligence, per NBC News. Noting Butler claimed the vehicle was on autopilot, the lawsuit states the vehicle failed to differentiate between the home and the street, or inadvertently accelerated, reports KPRC.

The complaint argues Tesla's autopilot feature has "a history of known danger," linked to at least 17 fatal incidents up to 2023. Tesla executives have countered that the driver overrode the system by flooring the accelerator. The suit also accuses Butler of gross negligence, saying he failed to exercise reasonable care. Avila's son-in-law, Justin Barbour, was also inside the home at the time of the crash and suffered injuries to his neck, back, and shoulders, the filing states, per KPRC. The family has been forced to leave their damaged home and are focused on "figuring out what happened ... so they can prevent it from happening to anyone else again," their attorney says.