This brings the car into a grey area as the government has yet to say if it is legal for Hong Kong motorists to drive with the system update, and even more so if any accidents occur as a result of it.

"There may be a lot of disputes regarding insurance claims as it has yet to be approved by the government," Chan Kin-por, lawmaker for the insurance sector, told the He urged the government to clarify whether it was lawful or unlawful to drive such cars.

Since Hong Kong's legal framework does not cover new technologies such as semi-autonomous or autonomous cars, it could present difficulties for insurance companies who base their policies on the law.

Both Tesla and the Transport Department could not throw any light on the matter yesterday, while insurance companies had a range of responses.

A spokesman for FWD General Insurance said the software update was not yet in the scope of their motor insurance, since it was very new to the Hong Kong market and had yet to gain legislative approval.

Another insurance company, which wished to remain anonymous, said clients who used Tesla's "Autopilot" features would still be covered in the event of an accident.

"Up until now, Autopilot is not included inside our list of policy exclusions, so it will still be covered," the firm's representative said.

A competitor said its policies did not differ for traditional cars or smart cars with driver-assistance technology, including auto-parking features.

When making risk assessments, an insurance company placed more importance on the driver's profession, age and claim history, said Rebecca Poon Chung Yen, executive financial manager for AXA China Region.

Poon added that the popularity of electric vehicles and smart cars was not high in Hong Kong, so insurance claims were few.

The Transport Department said it was in contact with Tesla, and that under normal circumstances self-driving functions would be approved if they complied with recognised standards and did not disrupt traffic.