Tesla FSD in Europe Road Safety Council Criticizes “Speed Offset”

Related Vendor

FAULHABER Drive Systems

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) is calling for at least two features of Tesla's FSD not to be approved. The EU will discuss the matter again in October, with a vote scheduled for December at the earliest.

The controversy surrounding Tesla's FSD Autopilot system is escalating. With further EU discussions imminent, the debate has long since shifted to the fundamental question of how Europe should deal with these new automated systems.

The discussion stems from and centers on Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” assistance system. The technology allows the driver to take their hands off the steering wheel at times while the vehicle steers, brakes, and accelerates autonomously. European and Asian manufacturers already have similar systems on the road in Europe, but they are limited to use on highways. Tesla’s FSD, on the other hand, also works in cities and offers an unusually wide range of features, some of which go beyond existing EU regulations.

The non-profit European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) is now criticizing at least two of these features and is calling on the European Commission and member states not to approve them in their current form. One of them clearly violates existing UN regulations. However, the current dispute is only part of what has now become a fundamental debate on safety, approval, and regulation of advanced driver-assistance systems in Europe.

Significant Exceedance of the Speed Limit Is Possible

Specifically, the ETSC criticizes the “Speed Offset” feature. According to the Tesla manual, this feature allows the driver to set a permanent increase of up to 50 percent on the maximum speed detected by the system. For example, a speed of 50 km/h (31 mph) could thus become 75 km/h (47 mph). In the ETSC’s view, this contradicts the UN regulation for so-called Driver Control Assistance Systems (DCAS). This regulation expressly prohibits a preset that causes the system’s maximum speed to exceed the speed limit. Furthermore, the ETSC states that Tesla did not list this feature among the items for which an exemption from existing regulations was requested.

The organization also takes a critical view of the “Contextual Max Speed” feature. Among other factors, this feature can take into account how fast other road users are traveling when determining the speed. The ETSC generally considers contextual information to be useful but warns against using the speed of other cars as a reference: if they are driving too fast, the system could also use that as a basis for setting a higher speed.

The current criticism comes amid an already controversial history of vehicle approval. In April, the Dutch Vehicle and Registration Authority (RDW) initially approved Tesla’s technology for use in the Netherlands based on an exemption in the European Type-Approval Regulation. This provision allows for the introduction of new technologies that do not fully comply with existing regulations, provided that at least an equivalent level of safety is demonstrated. Other member states may adopt such a provisional approval. Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, and Slovenia have since done so. For EU-wide approval, however, a decision at the European level is required.

ETSC Criticizes the Approval Process

It is precisely this procedure that has drawn criticism from safety experts. The ETSC—whose members include Dekra, TÜV, and the ARCD automobile club—criticizes the fact that a regulation originally intended for technical exceptions could, in effect, pave the way for a fundamental expansion of automated driving functions. Under driver supervision, Tesla’s FSD can, among other things, steer, accelerate, brake, and initiate driving maneuvers autonomously—even off highways. In the organization’s view, EU-wide approval could therefore set a precedent for other manufacturers and for the future design of international regulations governing automated driving.

The Dutch regulatory agency defends its decision by citing extensive testing. Following approval, the agency also tightened the required monitoring and receives monthly reports. According to the RDW, by mid-June, nearly 40,000 vehicles equipped with the relevant technology had traveled approximately 24 million kilometers (14.9 million miles) in the Netherlands without any incidents deemed relevant by the agency.

That is not enough for the ETSC. It criticizes the fact that there is no institution at the EU level comparable to U.S. agencies such as the NTSB and NHTSA that systematically records and independently investigates accidents involving driver-assistance and automated driving systems. After all, a software error could affect not just a single vehicle, but potentially an entire fleet running the same software version.

Tesla, for its part, has been aggressively pushing for its European launch for some time now. As early as late 2025, for example, the company had called on its customers to express their support for the registration process to the Dutch RDW. The agency subsequently issued a public request asking people to refrain from contacting them in this manner.

EU vote in December at the Earliest

This means that the upcoming European decision involves more than just the approval of Tesla software. The debate also centers on how far driver-assistance systems are allowed to drive autonomously, how their safety must be demonstrated, and who will monitor them after approval. The issue is scheduled to be discussed again in early October by the EU’s Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles. A vote on EU-wide approval is expected in December at the earliest. The outcome remains to be seen. 

The seven countries that have so far adopted the Dutch approval account for only about 12 percent of the votes needed for EU-wide approval. Major markets such as Germany, France, Italy, and Spain have not yet joined. France and Sweden have recently expressed concerns regarding the handling of speed limits.

Traffic Safety

U.S. Agency Reviews Tesla's Robotaxi