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Tesla Sued After Woman Was Killed by Car Crashing Into House
Lawsuit Blames Automated Technology as NHTSA Investigates
Key Takeaways:
- Tesla was sued in Texas by the family of a 76-year-old woman killed after a Model 3 crashed into her home near Houston.
- The lawsuit alleges the driver-assistance system failed to detect the road’s end, though Tesla said the feature was not engaged at the time.
- NHTSA opened a special investigation into the crash as Tesla faces ongoing litigation over its automated driving technology.
Tesla Inc. was sued by the family of a 76-year-old woman who was killed after a Model 3 sedan allegedly using driver-assistance software slammed into her home near Houston.
The electric vehicle maker’s automated technology failed to detect the end of the roadway and stop before slamming into a brick house, according to the lawsuit filed June 23 in Texas state court. The complaint also includes a claim of deceptive marketing against the company, and both Tesla and the driver are accused of negligence.
Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment. The company’s head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, said in a post on X that Tesla’s driver-assistance system wasn’t engaged at the time of the crash, without providing evidence.
Martha Avila was in her family’s home in Katy, Texas, with her daughter, son-in-law and her grandchildren on June 18 when a Model 3 crashed through the front wall. Avila was pinned in the wreckage and was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Justin Barbour, Avila’s son-in-law, was also injured in the crash.
The driver told law enforcement at the scene that he was using a driver-assistance system at the time of the crash, according to the lawsuit.
Yup. In this case, the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accel pedal in this residential area. They reached a speed of 73 mph during the crash, and had the accelerator pressed even after the crash. — Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) June 22, 2026
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a special crash investigation into the incident on June 22, but didn’t offer additional details.
Tesla has faced more than a dozen lawsuits that blamed defective technology for fatal crashes. The company has reached confidential settlements in several cases, and prevailed in two California trials in 2023.
However, in 2025 a federal jury in Miami found the company partially responsible for a fatal collision with a parked SUV and imposed $200 million in punitive damages on top of $43 million to compensate for pain, suffering and other losses. Tesla is appealing the verdict.
The case is Justin Barbour v. Tesla, 202642166, Harris County District Court.
