Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at an opening ceremony for the carmaker’s China-made Model Y program in Shanghai on January 7, 2020. Source: Aly Song/Reuters.
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  • Elon Musk’s Tesla is being investigated by US authorities as its cars have been crashing into emergency vehicles
  • The investigation is for Telsa’s Autopilot, which will involve 765,000 US vehicles
  • Tesla could face a recall of its cars if the probe does not go its way
  • Additionally, in England five children and an adult were taken to hospital with injuries after a self-driving Tesla Model 3 crashed into a school car park

One of the world’s biggest companies is being investigated as its cars have been crashing into emergency vehicles.

US authorities have called a formal safety probe into Tesla’s driving assistance system, Autopilot.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has identified 11 crashes since January 2018 in which Teslas “have encountered first responder scenes and subsequently struck one or more vehicles involved with those scenes”.

One of those crashes included a Tesla Model 3 that left a passenger dead after the vehicle collided with a parked fire truck in Indiana.

The probe will take in 765,000 US vehicles with Autopilot since 2014. Tesla could face a recall of its cars if the probe does not go its way.

NHTSA has come under fire after closing an earlier investigation into Autopilot in 2017 without taking any action.

Tesla did not immediately respond but CEO Elon Musk has previously defended Autopilot and in April tweeted that “Tesla with Autopilot engaged now approaching 10 times lower chance of accident than average vehicle”.

Additionally, in England five children and an adult were taken to hospital with injuries after a self-driving Tesla Model 3 crashed into a school car park.

At least one person was reported to have been pinned under the electric car in a car park of a college in Sussex.

Notably, it is unknown if there was a driver behind the wheel of the vehicle at the time of the collision.

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