Flemish Mobility Minister Annick De Ridder (Flemish nationalist N-VA) has authorised the use of self-driving Teslas on public roads. Tesla is a brand of electric car. The approval applies to all Belgian roads, the minister reports. Tests with the ‘autonomous’ Teslas only began last month. The driver must be able to intervene at any time and remains responsible.
The vehicles use the FSD system that allows the car to steer itself, stay within its lane and even change lanes. The driver must be able to intervene at any time and retains overall responsibility.
The technology had previously been approved in the Netherlands. “The Dutch approval was preceded by an intensive testing period. So we didn’t have to start from scratch. Thanks to smooth cooperation with our Dutch colleagues at the RDW (the Dutch National Road Traffic Authority), we had access to all their test data, and a shortened test period was sufficient to assess the differences in road infrastructure and highway code between the Netherlands and Belgium,” says De Ridder.
According to the minister, the system can contribute to road safety. ‘After all, it exhibits a defensive driving style and can react more quickly and consistently than human drivers in certain situations,’ the minister noted.
Ultimate responsibility lies with the driver
Naturally, a self-driving car like this raises many questions. “It’s not actually a ‘fully self-driving’ car, but a ‘mostly self-driving’ car,” emphasises Steven Latré, Head of AI at the Imec research centre.
"It’s a car that almost independently drives from point A to point B, but as a driver you must remain alert at all times and assist the car. The car can stop for pedestrians or at a zebra crossing and can turn left and right. But sometimes it still needs a nudge from the driver."
Latré describes the FSD car as a vehicle that drives autonomously 98 per cent of the time. That doesn’t mean you can sit back and read the newspaper whilst driving. “The moment you take your eyes off the road, the car will detect this and switch to a more manual mode.”
As a driver, you therefore still bear ultimate responsibility. Although there are also questions as to whether our road network is ready for self-driving cars.
FSD cars have been built, tested and prepared for roads in the United States. “Our road network is more complex,” it’s argued. Tesla has certainly done its homework. To secure approval in the Netherlands, 13,000 test drives were completed, amounting to 1.6 million kilometres of testing on European roads.
‘The technology has also made progress, so we can see that these cars are capable of handling themselves well.’ Although the system won’t be flawless either. ‘But we’re talking about mistakes that we as humans can also make. For example, if we have to look twice or three times at a junction with six or seven streets.’