Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system has been approved for use in the Netherlands, but Dutch regulators are refusing to release data proving its safety. The Dutch road regulator, known as RDW, has gone on to push for the system to be adopted across the rest of the European Union.
RDW’s decision to approve the system has been met with criticism, as some have accused Tesla of overstating the safety of its system. Emails between RDW and Tesla show that the automaker pressed the regulator to keep documents tied to its safety review out of public view.
Tesla argued that publishing the material would expose its commercial secrets. However, transportation-safety professor Oliver Carsten believes it’s in the public interest for details of RDW’s testing and analysis to be published. Frank Mutze from the European Transport Safety Council says that without this information, the public has to trust that RDW “have done their homework.”
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In June, it was revealed that Tesla had shared inflated data with regulators across the EU, including RDW. This data exaggerated the system’s safety by comparing crash rates of vehicles with the system to federal crash rates for all vehicles, including those involved in less-severe accidents.
RDW says it did not rely on data provided by Tesla in approving the system and states it conducted its own “extensive testing” of the technology. An email exchange from April 2025 shows that Tesla reached out to RDW seeking clarification that it would “never” release a document related to the system.
Despite this, RDW says it decided to withhold information regarding its evaluation not due to Tesla’s request for secrecy, but of its own accord to protect the company’s secrets. Regulators in six other European countries, including Germany, Denmark, and Norway, also say they will not release data on testing.
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With the system likely to be approved for widespread use across the region, consumers will have to trust regulators when they say the system is safe.
The decision by RDW and other regulators to withhold data on testing has significant implications for consumers, who will have to rely on the assurances of regulators that the system is safe.
It is essential that regulators provide clear and transparent information about their evaluation processes.