Tesla driver who blamed crash on autopilot pressed accelerator 100%, NTSB finds
On Wednesday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released preliminary findings verifying Elon Musk’s and Tesla’s claims that a driver involved in a fatal Texas crash that killed a grandmother overrode Full Self Driving in the moments ahead of impact. Last month, 44-year-old Michael Butler told police that the autopilot feature was engaged at the time of the crash.
Reported by 3 outlets — Ars Technica, Seattle Times, The Verge. See all sources ↓
On Wednesday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released preliminary findings verifying Elon Musk’s and Tesla’s claims that a driver involved in a fatal Texas crash that killed a grandmother overrode Full Self Driving in the moments ahead of impact. Last month, 44-year-old Michael Butler told police that the autopilot feature was engaged at the time of the crash. On X, Musk disputed the claim, writing that Butler must have overridden the feature because “FSD drives slowly through neighborhood streets, and this was a high-speed crash!” Moving to back Musk’s claim, Tesla’s vice president of AI software, Ashok Elluswamy, said that internal data showed “the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100 percent of the accel pedal in this residential area.” NTSB’s preliminary report, which does not yet determine what caused the crash, confirmed Tesla’s claims. Its probe found that FSD was engaged at the time of the crash, but electronic data showed “the driver manually overrode FSD (Supervised) by pressing the accelerator pedal to 100 percent.”Read full article Comments
Read the full report at Ars Technica ↗
Why it matters
3 outlets are covering this world story — one to watch as reporting develops.
- What's the story?
- On Wednesday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released preliminary findings verifying Elon Musk’s and Tesla’s claims that a driver involved in a fatal Texas crash that killed a grandmother overrode Full Self Driving in the moments ahead of impact. Last month, 44-year-old Michael Butler told police that the autopilot feature was engaged at the time of the crash.
- How widely is it covered?
- 3 outlets, average source rating 6.3/10.
- When was it last updated?
- 11m ago.
How outlets are framing the same story
Here's how each outlet is covering the story — compare their headlines and timing at a glance.
- Coverage card3 outlets1CoverageScouting report
Tesla driver in fatal Texas crash overrode FSD by pressing accelerator ‘100 percent,’ investigators confirm
Sources3TypeCoverageArs Technica
Seattle Times
The Verge