The top U.S. automotive regulator initiated an inquiry on Monday following a Tesla car, utilizing an automated driving function, crashing into a residence in Texas at a high velocity, resulting in the death of a 76-year-old woman inside. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration disclosed that it is commencing a special probe into the Tesla Model 3 collision near Houston that happened last Friday. The vehicle was employing technology that Elon Musk views as crucial to the company’s future.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, is unveiling robotaxis integrated with automated software in various American cities this year and intends to extend an invitation to Tesla owners to include their vehicles in the fleet using the same system nationwide.
According to a police report on the accident, the driver informed the Harris County Sheriff’s Office that he was utilizing the technology; however, it remains uncertain if this technology was a contributing factor to the incident.
Tesla did not provide a comment in response to a request, but the head of the company’s artificial intelligence division hinted on social media that the autonomous driving feature was not at fault. Ashok Elluswamy mentioned on X, a platform now part of Musk’s SpaceX enterprise, that in this instance, the driver manually took over self-driving by pressing the accelerator to its maximum in a residential area.
The police report confirmed that the driver was not under the influence of alcohol and is cooperating with authorities. The victim was identified as Martha Avila.
Video footage from KHOU-TV captures the vehicle speeding across the front yard of a brick house in Katy, Texas, before crashing into a front room. Subsequent scenes show the car embedded within the house amidst debris of broken plaster, fractured beams, and scattered furniture.
The NHTSA, the auto safety regulatory body, has initiated numerous investigations into Tesla, including a recent one last year involving 58 incidents where Teslas purportedly breached traffic safety regulations while using self-driving technology, resulting in several accidents, fires, and injuries.
Over the past decade, the NHTSA has launched 46 additional inquiries into Tesla cases involving self-driving or driver-assistance technology, with more than a dozen of those accidents resulting in fatalities. Tesla encountered a significant decline in stock value early last year with reduced car sales following a backlash against Musk’s political involvement and subsequent recovery under a new narrative focusing on AI and robotaxis. The company’s stock has shown a 16% increase over the past year.