On Belgian cycle streets, Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software kept attempting to overtake cyclists even though passing them is prohibited, requiring its supervising driver to step in several times. Across all six cycle streets in the tests, it never displayed the correct speed limit of 30 km/h.
Johanna.be, an organization focused on pedestrian and road safety, tested the Elon Musk automaker’s driver-assistance system in Belgium. Its findings, reported by Momentum Mag, document repeated breaches of traffic laws. These included speeding through neighborhoods and along residential roads, not simply difficulty interacting with bicycles.
Cycle streets in Belgium allow shared traffic but prioritize bicycles. Because drivers are forbidden to pass cyclists on these roads, the attempted overtakes violated their rules; the issue wasn’t just whether the car left enough room. Several maneuvers required the supervising driver to cancel the pass manually.
Researchers also flagged the incorrect speed information. In their report, they wrote that “in none of the six tested cycle streets did FSD correctly indicate the applicable 30 km/h speed limit,” and concluded: “This evidence suggests that FSD neither recognizes nor appropriately responds to the operational requirements of Belgian cycle streets,”
The failures weren’t confined to cycle streets. FSD averaged 44 km/h in 55 percent of the 30 km/h zones tested, while the limit shown to the driver was incorrect in 90 percent of the zones. Researchers also described it driving at 50 km/h just moments after correctly recognizing a sign setting the limit at 30 km/h. The source does not say how frequently that particular sequence happened.
The findings included a qualification: around pedestrians and cyclists, FSD was otherwise fairly courteous and frequently yielded without prompting. Such conduct, however, does not “offset the documented failures to comply with speed limits and cycle-street regulations.” The source emphasizes the setting of these breaches: roads with low speed limits designed to give pedestrians safer, more comfortable conditions.
For the European Cyclists’ Federation, the concern lies in the difference between polite interactions and actually following road rules. “Systems like this sit in an uneasy middle ground of driver and vehicle responsibility,” the organization wrote, as quoted by Momentum Mag. “They seem capable and often interact courteously enough, and they are certainly marketed confidently enough that drivers believe they are fully autonomous cars.”
Full Self-Driving’s name does not mean it can handle driving entirely on its own. A driver must supervise it continuously and be prepared to take control immediately. The safety of the system remains subject to scrutiny and government investigations. Several fatal collisions have involved FSD, with cases described in one report and another account.
Tesla is pursuing broader use of its technology in Europe as these Belgian results emerge. Compared with the US, European roads are more often shared with cyclists and pedestrians. Authorities in Europe have historically been reluctant to authorize the system, but recent provisional approvals cover around a dozen countries, including Slovakia, Belgium, and Finland.
Last month, German transport minister Steffen Bilger said he would back approval throughout the European Union. Afterward, Tesla accepted a change of name for the technology to “Tesla Assisted Driving” in Europe.
In the source’s assessment, Tesla still hasn’t sufficiently adapted its software to follow European traffic laws. The tests give regulators a concrete issue to examine: prohibited overtaking attempts paired with a failure to display the right speed limit to the person supervising the car.
