A 76-year-old woman died after a Tesla drove into her home in Katy, Texas on a Friday night. The driver told police the car was using a feature called Autopilot, according to ABC News. The Harris County Sheriff's Office is investigating.

Right now, few details are public about how the crash happened. The car left the road, went through the house, and the woman inside died. Whether the driver really had Autopilot on will be checked through data stored inside the vehicle — like how a plane's black box records what happened before a crash.

Tesla vehicles automatically record information: whether Autopilot was on, how fast the car was going, and what the steering wheel was doing. This data is the main tool investigators use to understand what actually occurred.

It is important to understand what Autopilot does and does not do. Tesla's Autopilot helps with steering and speed on highways, but the driver must stay alert and be ready to take over instantly. It is not the same as a fully self-driving car. Tesla has always said drivers need to pay attention and be ready to take control whenever necessary. We do not yet know if the driver in Texas was doing that.

Driver accounts of what happened in a crash do matter. But they need to be checked against the actual vehicle data before we know what really caused the accident. The claim that Autopilot was on is something investigators will need to prove or disprove using the car's records.

The investigation will likely look at data from inside the vehicle, the speed the car was traveling, road conditions, and any video from security cameras or other sources. If the federal government gets involved — which often happens in cases like this — Tesla will be required to turn over the vehicle's information.

A woman was in her home. She did not survive. That is what matters most here, whatever the investigation reveals.

When a car hits a house, it is rare but not unheard of. Houses are not designed to stop a car moving at speed, and people inside have no warning or time to get to safety. Understanding whether Autopilot played a role in this crash is a real question that deserves answers. Those answers have to come from evidence, not just what the driver said.