A deadly Texas crash involving a Tesla has a US senator accusing the company of experimenting on the public and dodging responsibility, NBC News reports. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut is urging federal regulators to move faster and “hold Tesla accountable” after a Model 3 on an assisted-driving setting slammed into a brick house near Houston last week, killing 76-year-old Martha Avila. The incident has already prompted two federal probes and renewed questions about Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) system.
Elon Musk has pushed back online, saying the high-speed crash is inconsistent with how FSD behaves, and a top Tesla executive claimed on X that the driver floored the accelerator, overriding the software. Neither has released car data backing that up. Blumenthal and Sen. Edward Markey, longtime critics of Tesla’s safety claims, say the company relies on selective statistics and narrow definitions that make FSD look safer than it is, and they want the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to force Tesla and other automakers to disclose fuller safety data by July 7, the Independent reports. NHTSA has opened an investigation but isn’t commenting. Avila’s family is suing Tesla and the driver, while Blumenthal warns consumers to treat Tesla’s tech with skepticism: “Buyer beware.”
