Dutch authority helped Tesla circumvent regulations for Autopilot approval: report
The Dutch Vehicle Authority (RDW) helped Tesla get approval for its Autopilot system in Europe in 2015 by making use of a loophole in the law, the Swedish Transport Authority told Zembla. According to the Swedish authority, Tesla’s driver assistance system should never have been approved under the regulations in force at the time.
When cars are approved for the European market, the authorities examine whether all the different parts of the car comply with the international regulations. If a car passes inspection in one country, it is allowed on the road throughout Europe. Tesla chose the Netherlands’ RDW to approve its Autopilot cars in 2015.
At the time, self-driving vehicles were not yet regulated. There were only regulations for driver assistance systems that could intervene very briefly at a low speed. Tesla’s Autopilot launched a system that could steer for a longer period at highway speeds.
According to the Swedish authority, the RDW and Tesla used a “backdoor in the regulations” to get the Autopilot system approved. “You could interpret the rules to say: the system makes one manoeuvre, followed by another manoeuvre, and another, and so on,” an involved official told Zembla. “And if you tie that together, the car can drive for a longer period of time. Most of us saw this explanation as a loophole.”
“The general idea was that this technology could not be approved,” the Swedish official said. “The fact that it did happen came as a surprise to everyone.”
According to the Swedish official, it was an RDW employee who alerted other countries about this “creative interpretation of regulations” that allowed the system to be approved. Zembla spoke to the RDW employee in question, who said that the approval of Autopilit hit like “a bolt of lightning from the blue sky.”
In response, the RDW denied using a loophole in the law. “We looked at what was possible based on our opinion about the regulations, taking into account that the system must comply with them,” RDW admission manager Maarten Balk told the program. “It was in accordance with the requirements that exist. We tested that and determined that it was okay.”
Tesla did not respond to Zembla’s questions on the matter.
Autopilot has regularly been the subject of controversy in recent years. According to Zembla, American authorities have investigated hundreds of accidents in which Autopilot may have played a role, including over 40 fatal accidents. Internal documents a Tesla employee leaked to the German newspaper Handelsblatt two years ago also showed that Tesla received thousands of reports of accidents and other dangerous situations involving Autopilot.
