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The damaged patrol car (Photo: Michigan State Police)
A Tesla in autopilot mode crashed into a parked Michigan State Police patrol car on Wednsday morning on I-96 in Eaton County, west of Lansing, police said.
Troopers were investigating a car crash involving a deer around 1:15 a.m. when when the Tesla struck their patrol car, which had its emergency lights activated, the State Police wrote in a tweet. The 22-year-old driver from Lansing got a ticket for failing to move into another lane and driving with a suspended license.
While there were no injuries, the issue of using the autopilot system raises concerns.
The federal highway safety agency has 23 active investigations into Tesla crashes, inlcuding this one and a Detroit accident March 11. Detroit police said Tuesday they don't believe autopilot was in use when a Tesla became wedged under a tractor-trailer and left a passenger in critical condition.
Vox wrote last year:
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recently found that Tesla’s semi-autonomous driving feature was partially to blame in a 2018 fatal car crash, adding yet another accident to the technology’s already worrisome record.
Tesla's autopilot's key features include:
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"Traffic-aware cruise control," which matches the speed of your car to surrounding traffic.
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Autosteer, which assists in steering within a clearly marked lane, and uses traffic-aware cruise control.
Tesla notes on its site that the autopilot function is "intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment. While these features are designed to become more capable over time, the currently enabled features do not make the vehicle autonomous."
