Harris County prosecutors have charged a Tesla driver with manslaughter following a crash that killed a 76-year-old woman in Katy, Texas. The charging document alleges the driver overrode the vehicle's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system, flooring the car to 73 mph in a residential cul-de-sac before the collision.
New details from the charging document reveal the driver had been searching online in the weeks prior, including queries that FSD wasn't aggressive enough. One specific search phrase was 'FSD too timid,' according to court records.
The case underscores growing scrutiny around driver-assistance systems marketed as autonomous. While Tesla's FSD is classified as a Level 2 system requiring constant driver supervision, incidents like this raise questions about how drivers interact with—and misuse—the technology.
Prosecutors are expected to argue that the driver's actions, including the deliberate override and speed, constitute criminal negligence. The defense may counter that the system's branding and marketing contributed to a false sense of security, though Tesla's terms explicitly state FSD does not make the vehicle fully autonomous.
Incidents of drivers pushing FSD beyond its intended limits have been cited in previous lawsuits and regulatory investigations. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened multiple probes into Tesla crashes where driver inattention or misuse was suspected.