- After many years of bureaucracy, FSD goes live in Europe
- It is only legal in the Netherlands, but more regions may follow suit
- Some safety campaigners say the decision is “deeply worrying”
Over the past 18 months, Tesla has been working with the Dutch vehicle approval organization, RDW, to gain approval for its fully self-driving (supervised) semi-autonomous driving system.
After a long consultation period, which included covering nearly a million miles with FSD (Supervised) active and offering ride-along trials with 13,000 people in several European countries, RDW deemed the technology safe to get the green light.
Tesla’s controversial CEO Elon Musk has long promised to introduce the semi-autonomous cruise control system to other markets outside the US, where it has been on sale for years. But the company has regularly encountered red tape.
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According to a press release issued by Tesla to promote its European debut, the company says that when FSD (Supervised) is engaged, collisions are up to “seven times less likely per kilometer driven compared to manual driving alone”.
But safety campaigners such as Dan O’Dowd of The Dawn Project reiterate that “59 people have been killed in over 3,000 accidents involving Tesla’s self-driving software in the US alone since 2021”.
“RDW’s decision is deeply troubling given the Tesla FSD’s myriad of well-documented safety defects,” adds O’Dowd.
Also, the company’s Robotaxis, which uses a similar hardware package that relies on the vehicle’s external cameras and artificial intelligence to navigate the world, as opposed to a host of radar and Lidar sensors as rivals, has made headlines because data suggests they crash four times more often than the average human driver, according to Fortune.
In an effort to bolster its safety credentials, Tesla has made a number of changes to its software for the version that will be sold in the Netherlands.
Not one Tesla app reported that those customers who had first-hand experience with the Euro-spec FSD (monitored) noticed that it differed from the technology found in the US.
For example, Dutch owners must pass a mandatory safety quiz before FSD is activated, while the ‘Sloth’ to ‘Mad Max’ speed profiles in the US version have been dropped in favor of the more straightforward ‘Max Speed’ setting in the Netherlands.
Analysis: Europe will be watching closely
While it is easy to believe that the recent judgment in the Netherlands will automatically open the door for FSD (Supervised) to be used in the rest of Europe, it is highly likely that many other markets will continue to exercise caution.
Even RDW, the organization that gave the green light to FSD (Supervised|) in the Netherlands, says the system is not “self-driving”, adding that “the driver remains responsible and must always be in control.”
This confusion with messages used to promote the technology’s capabilities has caused plenty of trouble in the US, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launching an investigation into the technology’s safety.
Recently, it escalated its probe into “Engineering Analysis,” which it says will evaluate the system’s ability to operate in reduced road visibility.
All the while, Elon Musk continues to promote the fact that each iteration of the FSD software will “far exceed human safety levels” and that users will soon be able to text and drive when realistically it’s just a level 2 semi-autonomous cruise control system also offered by the likes of Ford and BMW.
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