Tesla presented self-published safety statistics about its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system to regulators in Sweden and the Netherlands that independent traffic-safety researchers called misleading marketing [1, 2, 3, 4]. The company claimed FSD is up to 10 times safer than human drivers, a figure based on invalid data comparisons that exaggerate safety claims [1, 2, 3]. Researchers and European officials pointed out Tesla compared serious crashes involving FSD vehicles to broader U.S. crash data that included minor incidents and older vehicles, skewing results [3].
Tesla approached the Dutch road regulator RDW in late 2024 to start the approval process for FSD use in Europe [1, 2, 3]. In November 2024, Tesla sent a letter with a safety report link claiming increased FSD use leads to safer roads [1, 2, 3]. After more than a year of evaluations, RDW approved Tesla's FSD system for use in the Netherlands in April 2025 and is now seeking EU-wide authorization [1, 2, 3].
RDW emphasized it does not rely on Tesla's marketing claims or external statistics but performs its own tests, analyses, and verifications on public roads and test tracks, ensuring an independent assessment [1, 2, 3]. A Swedish Transport Agency investigator said evaluation “is not based solely on aggregated safety claims but on the overall evidence submitted” [3]. European Transport Safety Council spokesperson Dudley Curtis expressed concern, stating, "If Tesla wants to make safety claims they should hand over data for independent verification by qualified researchers at universities before discussing" [3].
Shortly after April 2025, Tesla policy manager Ivan Komusanac emailed Swedish regulators requesting similar FSD approval for Sweden, attaching slides with exaggerated safety claims [1, 2, 3, 4]. On June 16, 2026, Tesla Taiwan submitted application documents for the FSD Supervised system to Taiwan’s Vehicle Safety Examination Center, seeking to start official review and approval [3].
If approved by the European Union, FSD could receive EU-wide legal authorization, requiring approval from 55% of EU member state representatives in a vote [3].
