With Danish regulators’ approval of Tesla’s driverless technology, the country’s traffic authorities have taken a »surprising and exciting« step, said Torben Lund Kudsk, political director at FDM, the Danish Car Owner’s Association.
Denmark is the fourth E.U. country to approve Tesla’s self-driving system — which, however, may not be left to drive on its own. The driver must actively monitor that it behaves as it should and be ready to intervene at any moment. FDM estimates that about 30,000 Danish Tesla owners have the required hardware.
»Computers make fewer mistakes than we humans do. But they make mistakes«, Mr. Kudsk emphasized.
He experienced that himself during a test drive that impressed him. For 45 minutes, he was driven safely around Køge and the surrounding area. But just before the trip ended, the Tesla moved into a left-turn lane, only to continue straight ahead.
»That’s a fairly serious mistake that could earn you a ticket and might have caused an accident. Other drivers expect cars in the left-turn lane to turn left«, Torben Lund Kudsk said.
»And that’s where we, as the driver, bear full responsibility. It’s your license on the line, and it’s your insurance that pays if something happens. That’s a very, very important point to understand, because Tesla very much wants to cite a whole lot of numbers showing how much safer a car like this is«, he said.
»A bit dull«
Tesla does indeed say in a press release that ordinary drivers experience five times as many traffic accidents and seven times as many collisions as the supervised, self-driving system.
Active supervision means the driver has to stay fully focused on traffic, exactly as if she were driving herself. And she must keep her hands close to the wheel and be ready to take over.
For that reason, Torben Lund Kudsk doubts how many Tesla owners will pay what it costs.
»It would be something else entirely if you could do something else while the car drives. But you can’t. And a lot of people who drive Teslas actually like driving. So the question is, will you pay 750 kroner a month for a feature that’s probably fun to try but, over time, can make driving a bit dull«, he said.
Politiken’s Lars Dahlager described the experience in his report from a trip in Køge: »It drives like a limousine chauffeur driving a duchess«.
FDM’s concern is that, in practice, Tesla owners will pay less attention to traffic and to the car’s behavior.
»It really, really drives well. And it feels extremely safe. You’ll probably get lulled into a false sense of security because it drives far better than you ever could. But then, out of nowhere, it suddenly makes a serious mistake«, Torben Lund Kudsk said.
Better accident statistics
That is why he is urging authorities to improve accident statistics so it becomes possible to see whether a driverless car was involved. You can’t tell from the way accidents are reported today.
»That requires adding an extra layer to the statistics and having authorities keep a very close eye on whether, in practice, we actually get the safety improvement we’re all hoping for – or the opposite«, Torben Lund Kudsk said.
The decision comes with the caveat that the E.U. has not yet weighed in. If the E.U. says no, Denmark’s approval would be void.
According to FDM’s assessment, however, all signs point to E.U. approval.
»Four countries have already moved ahead and approved it nationally, so we’re not especially worried about whether it will get through at the E.U. level. We think it will. We’re more worried about whether, in practice, it will actually contribute to road safety or not«, Torben Lund Kudsk said.
»But we’d probably recommend that people subscribe month to month at first – both so they don’t waste money if the E.U. gives it the thumbs-down, and also to see whether it’s worth it once the novelty wears off«, he said.
