Five hurt when Tesla car on autopilot mode suddenly accelerated off the road and flipped into a marsh

• David Clark of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and his four passengers were hurt when his Tesla suddenly accelerated while on autopilot
• The car shot off the road, and flipped over, landing upside down in a marsh
• Clark, 58, and his four passengers suffered minor injuries
• This is not the first time a Tesla's autopilot has been blamed for a crash
•  Ex-Navy Seal Joshua Brown was killed after his Tesla S, failed to notice a turning tractor, and neither the car nor the driver hit the break, and plowed into it
• Tesla has typically been able to pull the data logs from the car and found the driver was to blame for ignoring alerts or not keeping their hands on the wheel

A driver and his four passengers were hurt when his Tesla suddenly accelerated while on autopilot, careened off the road and flipped into a marsh.

David Clark, 58, of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, had put the electric car into its autopilot feature, and was approaching the intersection of 141st Street and 172nd Avenue in Irving Township. 

He told police: 'When he engaged the auto pilot (sic) feature, that the vehicle suddenly accelerated causing the car to leave the roadway and overturn.'

The 2016 Tesla was found upside down in a nearby marsh. Clark and his four passengers suffered minor injuries.

This is not the first time a Tesla's autopilot has been blamed for a crash.

In the most serious case, former Navy Seal Joshua Brown, 40, of Canton, Ohio, was killed after his Tesla S, failed to notice a turning tractor, and neither the car nor the driver hit the break. He plowed into the vehicle at 74mph. 

Other recent cases include the moment a Tesla Model S crashed into a highway barrier in Dallas in March, when its autopilot failed to spot the merging of traffic lanes and when a Model X crashed into a beauty salon in California. 

In most cases, Tesla was able to pull the data logs from the car and found that the driver was actually to blame for ignoring alerts or not keeping their hands on the steering wheel. 

Tesla's autopilot mode is not intended to be fully automated driving and the driver is required to keep hold of the steering wheel and stay alert at all times, according to the company's website. If they take their hands off the wheel, the driver receives a number of prompts and alerts to remind them to keep hold.

Tesla's website also states that drivers must take command of their cars after exiting highways.

'When you reach your exit, your Tesla will depart the freeway, slow down and transition control back to you,' the website said. 

A Tesla spokesperson told Jalopnik they have launched an investigation into the incident. 

'We have not yet established whether the vehicle’s Autopilot feature was activated, and have no reason to believe that Autopilot, which has been found by NHTSA to reduce accident rates by 40 percent, worked other than as designed.

'Every time a driver engages Autopilot, they are reminded of their responsibility to remain engaged and to be prepared to take immediate action at all times, and drivers must acknowledge their responsibility to do so before Autopilot is enabled.' 

Tesla has an impressive safety record and have scored high on rollover safety tests due to the vehicle's low center of gravity, weight and they also have a strong roof structure. 

A federal report found that Tesla cars fitted with an autopilot system are 40 per cent less likely to crash than models being monitored and controlled by a driver alone.