DETROIT – A Tesla Mannequin Y working with Autopilot engaged struck a police automobile early Wednesday morning in Michigan, based on officers. Autopilot is Tesla’s driver help system that comes commonplace with all of its newer fashions.

The Tesla struck an officer’s blue Dodge Charger sedan as troopers had been investigating a crash between a deer and a special car at 1:12 a.m., based on a put up by the Michigan State Police on Twitter. The police automobile was parked and partially sitting in the proper lane of a freeway with its emergency lights on, Lt. Brian Oleksyk confirmed in an e-mail to CNBC.

The crash is the newest in a string of accidents involving Tesla’s all-electric automobiles which have drawn criticism from car security advocates and probes by the Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration, or NHTSA. This was additionally the second collision involving a Tesla car in Michigan over the last week.

Officers stated no accidents had been sustained to the officers or the unnamed 22-year-old driver of the Tesla, who was issued citations for failure to maneuver over and driving with a suspended license. The driving force advised police the car was working in Autopilot, based on Oleksyk. The accident occurred in Eaton County, situated about 100 miles northwest of Detroit.

Officers with the NHTSA declined to touch upon the accident at the moment. Tesla didn’t instantly reply for remark.

NHTSA has beforehand opened probes into greater than a dozen crashes that had been thought to contain Tesla’s superior driver help techniques similar to Autopilot. The latest concerned a “violent” crash last week of a Tesla sedan and a tractor trailer in Detroit. That investigation continues to be underway.

Tesla’s techniques embody a typical Autopilot bundle. A extra superior possibility marketed as full self-driving is offered right now for $10,000. The corporate’s Autopilot and full self-driving expertise don’t make Tesla automobiles protected for operation with out a driver on the wheel. Some prospects who buy the complete self-driving possibility additionally get entry to a “beta” model to attempt the most recent options which can be being added to the system earlier than all bugs are labored out.

The techniques can management many points of the automobile, however “energetic driver supervision” is required, based on Tesla’s web site.

Investigators haven’t but stated whether or not Tesla’s Autopilot, FSD or FSD beta could have contributed to final week’s crash in Detroit. Nevertheless, Tesla automobiles with Autopilot have collided with stationary objects and huge automobiles, together with tractor trailers and fireplace vans, on a number of events.

A 50-year-old, Jeremy Beren Banner of Lake Value, Florida, died when his Mannequin 3 on Autopilot struck the facet of a semi-trailer in Florida on March 1, 2019, ensuing within the roof of his automobile being sheared off because it handed beneath.

Tesla’s Autopilot system, whereas it has modified considerably over time, has been a topic of regulatory scrutiny since 2016 when an proprietor named Joshua Brown died driving his Tesla Mannequin S with Autopilot engaged round Gainesville, Florida. The car additionally collided with a tractor trailer.

One other federal car security watchdog that offers suggestions to NHTSA, the Nationwide Transportation Security Board, lately known as for clear and stringent rules for automated driving techniques at a federal degree. The board has pointed to Tesla’s strategy to automated driving techniques as a purpose why stronger security necessities and clear regulation are wanted.