Belgian road-safety group Johanna.be says Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software exceeded speed limits throughout much of its three-day test program around Brussels, violating local rules in 55% of the 30 km/h road segments it examined.
The group tested FSD Supervised across roughly 400 kilometres of Belgian roads in July, with a focus on 30 km/h zones, residential streets and cycle streets frequently used by pedestrians and cyclists. In the Brussels-Capital Region, the vehicle exceeded the legal limit in 55% of the tested 30 km/h segments, reaching an average segment speed of 44 km/h when it did. That difference is significant because a pedestrian hit at 44 km/h faces nearly six times the death risk of one struck at 30 km/h, according to World Health Organization figures cited in the report.
FSD also struggled in home zones, going above the 20 km/h limit in 42% of the locations reviewed by Johanna.be.
The group raised additional concerns about the vehicle’s speed-limit information. Johanna.be found that the car frequently displayed the wrong speed limit to the supervising driver. In the vast majority of tested 30 km/h zones, the display showed incorrect information, and in many cases the vehicle correctly identified a 30 km/h sign using its cameras before telling the driver the limit was 50 km/h. The report said this mismatch could mislead the person who remains legally responsible for the vehicle.
On cycle streets, where Belgian law prevents motor vehicles from overtaking cyclists, the software repeatedly attempted to pass cyclists, according to video examples released by the group alongside its report.
The findings were not completely negative. Johanna.be said FSD generally handled pedestrians and cyclists cautiously and often yielded. The report concluded, however, that polite driving behaviour does not make up for repeated speeding and failures to follow important traffic rules.
This report arrived just weeks before a possible EU-wide vote on FSD approval expected October 6. Belgium was among the first countries to approve FSD Supervised in June after recognizing the Dutch RDW’s provisional approval, and the software has since been approved in several additional markets including Czechia this week. Tesla has been pushing for the broader vote, opening up its safety evidence in September after claiming FSD-equipped cars record 4.1 times fewer collisions over more than 100 million kilometres of European driving. Johanna.be submitted its report to RDW and the Flemish transport ministry on September 7.
RDW said it has received the report and will consider it as part of its monitoring process, meaning the Belgian findings could become part of the discussion regulators hold ahead of the October vote.
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