The top U.S. auto regulator opened an investigation Monday after a Tesla that was reportedly using an automated driving feature slammed into a Texas home at high speed and killed a 76-year-old woman standing inside.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it's opening a special investigation into the Tesla Model 3 crash on Friday near Houston, a significant probe because the car was allegedly using technology that Elon Musk considers key to the company's future.

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The Tesla CEO is rolling out robotaxis using automated software in several U.S. cities this year and plans to invite Tesla owners to put their cars into the fleet using the same system across the country.

The driver told the Harris County Sheriff's Office that he was using the technology, according to a police report on the crash, but it's not clear what role, if any, it played in the incident.

The police report also noted that the driver was not drunk and is cooperating. It identified the woman killed as Martha Avila.

Door camera footage shared by Avila's daughter captured the car traveling at top speed over the front lawn of her brick home in Katy, then ramming into a front room. Photos shared by the sheriff's office shows the car encased in the home amid piles of crumbling plaster, split beams and bits of furniture.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. However, Musk commented on a news story post about the incident on X, saying,  Yes, this makes no sense. [Full Self-Driving] drives slowly through neighborhood streets and this was a high speed crash! 

The auto safety regulator, known as NHTSA, has launched several investigations into Tesla, including one late last year into 58 incidents in which Teslas reportedly violated traffic safety laws while using self-driving technology, leading to more than a dozen crashes and fires and nearly two dozen injuries.

The feds are investigating Tesla's  full self-driving  system after the company released reports on some of its crashes. Ian Cull reports.

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