A prominent safety organization on Tuesday called on European Union member states to refuse approval for U.S. automaker Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA) "Full Self-Driving" (FSD) system, citing concerns that it could permit vehicles to exceed posted speed limits.
The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) stated that Tesla's driver assistance system includes a "speed offset" feature that can raise the maximum speed to 150% of the speed limit detected by the vehicle, meaning it can exceed the limit by as much as 50%. The safety group said Tesla has not sought an exemption from United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) regulations to allow its FSD system to surpass established speed limits through a compensatory function.
This issue has become one of the most contentious points in Tesla's efforts to roll out FSD across Europe. The system controls vehicle speed and steering while requiring drivers to remain attentive. Several countries, including Sweden, France, and the Czech Republic, have raised concerns about the system's potential to exceed speed limits.
The Dutch regulator RDW approved the system in April, and Belgium along with a few other countries followed suit. A vote on EU-wide approval was originally scheduled for October, but it now appears unlikely to take place before December.
The Dutch approval decision granted an exemption from a set of rules established by the UN committee, but safety organizations point out that it does not include an exemption for the speed offset feature. The European Transport Safety Council said European regulators should reject approval of the "speed offset" function as well as another feature that adjusts driving speed based on surrounding traffic conditions.
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