but argued his death was “an accident that could have been avoided had Mr. Sterling simply turned himself in” before a task force was assigned to catch him.

That’s probably true. However.

It’s fine for a police officer to hit someone with a car, and it’s been done on many occasions.

But that’s also considered to be deadly force, like shooting them.

There is a threshold where an officer, or anyone else, using deadly force is acceptable in each state.

If it doesn’t meet the bar, can’t use deadly force.

This isn’t the criminal code, just the Michigan state policy, but that should be written to reflect the criminal code:

https://www.michigan.gov/msp/public-information/transparency/accordion/policies/use-of-force

Enforcement members may only discharge a firearm at a vehicle in the following circumstances:

Self-defense or defense of another - to justify the discharge of a firearm at a vehicle there must be some overt action on the part of the driver to establish an intent to kill or severely injure, as opposed to actions taken to escape arrest.

Life-threatening felonies with the use of a firearm - weapon may be pointed and/or discharged at a vehicle when an enforcement member has probable cause to believe an occupant has committed a life-threatening felony (murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, attempted armed robbery, felony arson, attempted arson, certain kidnapping crimes and criminal sexual conduct involving a weapon).

That’s talking about firearm use, but the underlying legal code will be dealing with any use of deadly force.