We don't yet know the driver's motive.
But if, for a moment, we assume the driver is trying to blame this on Tesla Autopilot or FSD, I'd say good luck with that.
Tesla has an enormous amount of data from before, during, and after the crash. That data is stored locally on the vehicle and, if the telemetry system remains operational, transmitted to Tesla's data centers. The NTSB also has access to the relevant vehicle data.
The record includes footage from all eight exterior cameras, along with thousands of vehicle "signals" generated by the car's various ECUs. Those signals include accelerator pedal position, steering inputs, brake application, vehicle speed, system state, driver interactions, and much more.
Many of these signals are recorded at high frequency— often dozens of times per second— allowing investigators to reconstruct, in remarkable detail, what both the vehicle and the driver were doing leading up to the crash.
You couldn't pick a worse system on which to base a false claim. If the evidence contradicts the driver's account, the data will show it.
Tesla driver charged with manslaughter.
Driver Michael Butler says his Tesla was on Autopilot.
The manslaughter charge means prosecutors believe Butler was responsible for the death through his driving (or failure to properly supervise/override the system), consistent with Tesla’s data showing he was actively accelerating hard. No motive has been alleged or reported. The case is still developing with investigations ongoing.
Tesla strongly disputes that the system was in control. Their VP of AI software (Ashok Elluswamy) stated publicly that telemetry data shows Butler manually overrode any self-driving features by pressing the accelerator pedal to 100% in a residential area, reaching speeds around 73 mph, and kept the pedal pressed even after the impact. Pressing the accelerator is a known driver override in both Autopilot and FSD.
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