A Tesla drove into a Texas home, killing one person, and now federal regulators want answers.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a probe into the crash after the driver told police he was using Tesla's Full Self-Driving feature at the time. Tesla CEO Elon Musk pushed back on that account, saying it "makes no sense" because FSD is designed to slow vehicles significantly in residential zones. NHTSA's investigation will look at whether the system played any role in the collision.
The probe adds to a long list of federal scrutiny Tesla has faced over its driver-assistance technology. NHTSA has previously investigated multiple FSD and Autopilot incidents, and the question of what the software was actually doing at the moment of a crash remains a recurring dispute between Tesla and regulators.
A driver's word against a CEO's public dismissal is an unusual way to open a safety investigation — and exactly why regulators, not executives, get to decide what the data shows.