Woman, 76, fatally struck by Tesla in her home in Katy
KATY, TX – A 76-year-old woman died after she was struck by a Tesla in her home in Katy last Friday, June 19, Fox26Houston said.
The crash occurred off Rose Hollow and Blooming Park Lanes. The driver of the Tesla Model 3 told police he had his car on autopilot while traveling east on Rose Hollow Lane.
Investigators believe the driver was traveling at a high rate of speed when he veered out of his lane and crashed into a broken home, with a 76-year-old woman inside.
Life Flight crews rushed the 76-year-old woman, later identified as Martha Avila, to a hospital where she later died.
EMS personnel also took the Tesla driver to a hospital for treatment of unspecified injuries.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said the driver showed no signs of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Tesla AI lead Ashok Elluswamy believes the driver manually overrode the accelerator “by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accel pedal.”
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 is also among the investigators working to piece together the events leading to the Tesla crash.
We will continue to follow this situation closely and add updates once we know more.
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Note: Serious accidents happen every day in Texas. Our blog serves as a reminder of this devastating fact and we hope that increased awareness of the risks we all face every day helps us take further steps towards prevention. Our posts are sourced from local news outlets and are updated frequently. Should you find details that are out of date or incorrect, please let us know so we may update the post to contain the most current information.