Safety group urges EU to reject Tesla’s FSD system: it could exceed speed limits by 50%

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) on Tuesday called on European Union member states to reject EU-wide approval of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver-assistance system, as Reuters reports. The main concern centres on a function called “speed offset”, which allows users to raise the maximum speed by up to 50 percent above the speed limit detected by the vehicle itself.

According to Reuters, the ETSC argues that Tesla has not sought an exemption from United Nations Economic Commission rules to allow the system to exceed set limits through this function. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while the company’s chief executive, Elon Musk, has previously said that delaying approval of FSD “will cost human lives”.

FSD controls the vehicle’s speed and steering but requires the driver to remain attentive at all times. Concerns about the system’s ability to exceed speed limits have already been raised by several countries, including Sweden, France and the Czech Republic, Reuters reports.

The Dutch regulator RDW approved the system in April, and Belgium and several other countries followed suit. The vote on EU-wide approval, previously expected in October, is now unlikely to take place before December. The Dutch approval grants exemptions from a series of UN commission rules, but the safety group says the speed-override function was not included in those exemptions. The RDW did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The ETSC also said European regulators should reject a separate feature that adjusts driving speed to that of surrounding traffic, Reuters reports.