Tesla faces NTSB crash verdict and NHTSA headlight recall denial

The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report confirming that the driver of a Tesla Model 3 in Katy, Texas, manually overrode the vehicle’s Full‑Self‑Driving (Supervised) system by flooring the accelerator, sending the car over 70 mph into a home and killing 76‑year‑old Martha Marta Avila. Driver Michael Butler has been charged with manslaughter and faces a wrongful‑death lawsuit filed by the victim’s family. The NTSB’s findings support Tesla’s claim that driver action, not the software, caused the fatal crash, while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration continues its own investigation of the incident.

Separately, the NHTSA denied Tesla’s petition to avoid a recall of roughly 19,900 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles from model years 2017‑2023 whose headlights may exceed maximum lighting levels. Tesla argued the issue was inconsequential to safety, but the agency said the non‑compliant lamps could cause glare in adverse weather and ordered a recall and consumer notification.