A 76-year-old woman died after a Tesla car crashed into a residential building in Texas
A woman died after a Tesla Model 3 crashed into a garage in Texas, Zamin.uz reported.
The incident reignited the debate over the safety of driver-assistance technologies. Initial reports suggested the vehicle’s Autopilot system was active at the time of the crash.
TechCrunch reported that the accident occurred on Friday evening.
Tesla, under the leadership of Michael Butler, veered off the road and struck the home of Marta Avila. Despite being airlifted to a hospital, she succumbed to her injuries despite medical efforts.
The driver told police that the vehicle was in Autopilot mode at the time. However, Tesla has firmly denied these claims.
Unusually, the company, which typically avoids media engagement, broke its silence. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s Vice President of Artificial Intelligence, shared data from the vehicle on social media.
According to Elluswamy, the data showed the driver had taken manual control and disengaged Autopilot through their own actions and high speed.
In this situation, the driver fully pressed the accelerator pedal while in the garage area, taking over control. At impact, the vehicle was traveling at 73 mph (approximately 117 km/h), and the accelerator remained depressed even after the collision.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk also weighed in, emphasizing that Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems are designed to operate at low speeds in such areas, and high-speed collisions like this one can only occur due to human intervention. He added that blaming the system in this case makes no logical sense.
Nevertheless, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirmed it has launched a special investigation into the incident. According to TechCrunch, this is one of over 40 ongoing probes into Tesla-related crashes in recent years.
Local police and federal authorities are currently analyzing the vehicle’s log files. Depending on the investigation’s outcome, criminal liability may be considered against the driver.
For users in Uzbekistan, such incidents are also significant, as the number of Tesla electric vehicles in the country is growing, and drivers must remain vigilant and not overly rely on driver-assistance systems—a point once again underscored by this tragedy.
