Tesla Model 3 electric vehicle at the company’s store in Colma, California. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg)
key takeaways:
- The family of a 76-year-old woman who was killed when her Model 3 crashed into her home near Houston has sued Tesla in Texas.
- The lawsuit alleges that the driver-assistance system failed to detect the end of the road, although Tesla said the feature was not operational at the time.
- NHTSA has launched a special investigation into the crash as Tesla faces an ongoing lawsuit over its self-driving technology.
Tesla Inc. was sued by the family of a 76-year-old woman who died after her Model 3 sedan crashed into her home near Houston while allegedly using driver-assistance software.
According to the lawsuit filed June 23 in Texas state court, the electric vehicle maker’s automated technology failed to detect the end of the road and stop before hitting the brick house. The complaint also includes claims of deceptive marketing against the company and accuses both Tesla and the drivers of negligence.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. The company’s AI chief Ashok Eluswamy said in a post on X, without providing evidence, that Tesla’s driver-assistance systems were not operational at the time of the crash.
On June 18, Martha Avila was at her family home in Katy, Texas, with her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren when a Model 3 crashed into the front wall. Avila was buried under the debris and was taken to the hospital, where he was declared dead.
Avila’s son-in-law, Justin Barbour, was also injured in the crash.
According to the lawsuit, the driver told law enforcement at the scene that he was using a driver-assistance system at the time of the crash.
Yes. In this case, the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator pedal all the way to 100% in this residential area. His speed at the time of the accident was 73 mph, and the accelerator was still depressed after the accident. – Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) 22 June 2026
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a special crash investigation into the incident on June 22, but did not provide additional details.
Tesla has faced more than a dozen lawsuits blaming faulty technology for fatal crashes. The company has reached confidential settlements in several cases and has been successful in two California trials in 2023.
However, in 2025 a federal jury in Miami found the company partly responsible for a fatal collision with a parked SUV and imposed punitive damages of $200 million in addition to $43 million to compensate for pain, suffering and other damages. Tesla is appealing the decision.
The case is Justin Barbour v. Tesla, 202642166, Harris County District Court.
