The family of a Texas woman killed when a Tesla Model 3 using its automated driving system crashed into a suburban Houston home has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the automaker. The June 19 incident in Katy, Texas, claimed the life of 76-year-old Martha Avila.

The complaint, filed Tuesday in Harris County state court, alleges Tesla failed to adequately warn about defects in its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) systems. The driver, Michael Butler, told law enforcement he had engaged Autopilot before the vehicle plowed through the front wall of Avila's home, pinning her. She later died at a hospital.

Video from CBS affiliate KHOU shows the car traveling at high speed over the front lawn before crashing into the living room. Butler was not under the influence and is cooperating. He is also named as a defendant; it is unclear if he has legal representation.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted on X: "FSD drives slowly through neighbourhood streets and this was a high-speed crash!" Tesla AI software VP Ashok Elluswamy countered that the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator pedal to 100%.

The lawsuit seeks more than $1 million in damages plus punitive damages, citing Tesla's alleged "reckless disregard for a substantial risk of severe bodily injury." The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating.

Since 2016, NHTSA has opened nearly 50 special investigations into Tesla crashes involving advanced driver assistance systems, with about two dozen deaths. In March, NHTSA escalated a probe into 3.2 million Teslas with FSD over concerns about detection in low visibility. In 2023, Tesla recalled about 2 million vehicles to ensure driver attentiveness.

Tesla states both Autopilot and FSD require fully attentive drivers with hands on the wheel. The incident comes as the company rolls out robotaxis in several U.S. cities using the same software.

Source: www.aljazeera.com