A 76-year-old woman died after a Tesla sped into her Texas home – a crash the driver said occurred while the vehicle was operating on an automated driving assistance system. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened a formal inquiry on Monday into the accident that happened on 19 June, according to the agency.
The driver of a Tesla Model 3 told investigators he was using the automated system at the time, police said. He was not intoxicated. The car “failed to drive in a single lane, left the roadway, and struck the residence”, a police report stated. Sergeant Alex Turman of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said the vehicle “failed to turn right at an intersection and, at a high rate of speed, crashed directly into a house”.
“US regulator investigates Tesla crash that killed a woman after driver said he used automated driving system.”
The woman inside the property was severely injured and taken to hospital, but died of her injuries, Turman added. In an interview with a local CBS station, her daughter described discovering her mother in the house after the crash. “My mum was such a caring woman,” she said. The daughter, her husband and their three children were all at home at the time.
The driver was also taken to hospital and is cooperating with the investigation. Turman said police were still evaluating what caused the car to fail to control its speed, noting that one line of inquiry was the driver’s claim about the automated system. “We’re still evaluating what caused the car to fail to control its speed just before this crash,” he said.
The NHTSA said its special crash investigation is the “in-depth and detailed” form of inquiry the agency conducts, separate from the local police probe. Such investigations often focus on emerging technology to gather data that can improve safety performance in vehicles. While not intended to immediately penalise a manufacturer, the inquiry can lead to safety recalls or other actions. Tesla, owned by trillionaire Elon Musk, did not respond to a request for comment.