U.S. regulators release investigation conclusion: Tesla fatal crash caused by driver human error
The National Transportation Safety Board of the United States released an investigation conclusion, determining that a fatal accident involving a Tesla Model 3 in Texas was caused by human error on the part of the driver. The investigation revealed that the 44-year-old driver manually bypassed the assistance system and floored the accelerator while activating the supervised version of FSD, resulting in the vehicle crashing into a residence at over 70 miles per hour, causing the death of a 76-year-old woman. This conclusion corroborates Tesla's assertion that the accident was due to driver error
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) stated on Wednesday that in June of this year, a Tesla Model 3 crashed at high speed into a residence in Katy, Texas, resulting in the death of a 76-year-old woman. The driver of the vehicle manually disabled and bypassed the vehicle's advanced driver assistance system at the time.
The NTSB concluded, based on electronic driving data extracted from the vehicle, that the 44-year-old driver had activated the supervised version of the Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature while simultaneously flooring the accelerator, thereby manually overriding the speed limit imposed by the FSD. The 2025 Tesla was traveling at over 70 miles per hour (113 kilometers per hour) at the time of the crash.
This preliminary investigation conclusion corroborates Tesla's assertion that the root cause of the accident was driver error. The incident occurred on a two-lane road in a residential area, where the speed limit was only 30 miles per hour.
The NTSB has investigated multiple traffic accidents involving Tesla vehicles with the driver assistance system activated. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is also investigating this crash
