A Tesla said to be traveling at speeds as high as 70 miles per hour while in Autopilot mode barreled into a Texas home on Friday night and killed a 76-year-old grandmother — the latest deadly crash to put the automaker’s controversial automation technology under scrutiny.
Security-camera footage aired by Houston station KHOU-TV appeared to show the Tesla barreling down a residential street before veering across a front lawn and smashing directly into the brick home.
Video from a doorbell camera captured the car missing the driveway and plowing into the front wall with such force that it tore deep into the residence, where Martha Avila was inside putting away groceries.
Authorities are investigating whether Tesla’s Autopilot system played a role after a Model 3 left the roadway in Katy, Texas, slammed through a brick house at high speed and fatally struck Avila as she sat inside.
The crash remains under active investigation, and officials have not determined what caused the vehicle to veer off the road.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the most senior auto safety regulatory agency in the country, has launched its own probe into the accident, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“We saw a car flying by down the street,” a neighbor who witnessed the crash told Click2Houston.com.
“All we saw was them going about 60 to 70 miles per hour. Next thing we know, we hear it hit that curb in that driveway and it ran into the house.”
The driver, 44-year-old Michael Butler, told investigators that the vehicle’s automated driving-assistance feature was engaged at the time of the crash, according to reports.
Avila, a 76-year-old grandmother, suffered critical injuries and was airlifted to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Butler was also injured and taken to a hospital for treatment.
According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Butler was traveling east on Rose Hollow Lane when he failed to maintain a single lane, left the roadway and crashed into the home on Blooming Park Lane.
Authorities said the Tesla entered the residence at a significant speed, causing extensive structural damage and striking Avila inside.
Investigators are examining whether Autopilot or another automated driving-assistance feature was active and functioning properly.
The family living in the house was forced to relocate to a hotel due to the severe damage caused to the structure, according to neighbors.
Tesla has not publicly commented on the crash.
The tragedy marks the latest in a long series of incidents involving Tesla’s driver-assistance technology that have drawn the attention of federal safety regulators, transportation investigators and plaintiffs’ lawyers.
For years, the National Transportation Safety Board and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have probed whether drivers became overly reliant on the technology and whether Tesla’s monitoring systems did enough to ensure motorists remained attentive behind the wheel.
Among the most closely scrutinized crashes was a 2016 fatal collision in Williston, Fla., in which a Tesla operating with Autopilot engaged struck a tractor-trailer.
Investigators later concluded that driver overreliance on automation contributed to the crash. Similar findings emerged from fatal crashes in Mountain View, Calif., in 2018 and Delray Beach, Fla., in 2019.
Last year, Tesla settled a wrongful-death lawsuit stemming from a 2018 California crash.
In a separate Florida case, a jury awarded $243 million to plaintiffs who argued the company bore responsibility for a fatal 2019 Autopilot-related crash.
Lauren Fix, an automotive analyst and consumer advocate, told The Post that the crash in Katy on Friday highlights long-running concerns about the way Tesla markets its driver-assistance technology.
“The mistake was calling it autopilot,” Fix told The Post.
“When these systems encounter unexpected situations, we as humans make different decisions than computers do.”
Fix cautioned that investigators will need to examine vehicle data before determining whether the system played any role.
“When someone dies in a car at that kind of speed in a neighborhood … there’s obviously either a software issue … or could be a driver issue,” she said.
“This remains an active and open investigation,” a Harris County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson told The Post.
“Once all evidence has been gathered, it will be presented to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office to determine whether charges are appropriate.”
The Post has sought comment from Tesla.
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