The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched an investigation after a Tesla vehicle allegedly operating in self-driving mode crashed into a house in Texas, killing a 76-year-old woman inside.

The regulator said on Monday it had opened a Special Crash Investigation into the June 19 incident near Houston, where a Tesla Model 3 struck a home. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office said the driver told officers he was using the Model 3's automated driving assistance system when the vehicle left the road and hit the residence. Police said the driver showed no signs of intoxication.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk disputed reports that the vehicle was in self-driving mode, posting on X that Full Self-Driving (FSD) drives slowly through neighborhood streets and that this was a high-speed crash. Tesla's VP of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, claimed the driver manually overrode the system by pressing the accelerator, reaching 73 mph (117 km/h). He did not provide a source.

Musk has touted self-driving technology as central to Tesla's long-term strategy, predicting 90% of US driving will be autonomous within a decade. However, current FSD technology is not fully autonomous and requires constant human supervision.

Tesla's self-driving system has faced growing regulatory scrutiny amid reports of fatal crashes. In October, NHTSA opened a probe into 58 incidents of Teslas running red lights or veering into traffic. In March, it escalated a probe into the system's performance in low visibility conditions.

Source: www.aljazeera.com