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Mon, April 20, 2026 at 7:23 AM PDT
Trade Tesla on Coinbase Trading disclosure STORY: Kees Roelandschap navigates down the narrow streets of Amsterdam without his hands on the wheel of his Tesla.It follows the U.S. carmaker getting surprise approval from the Netherlands for its supervised full self-driving – or FSD – systemIt’s a European first for city streets and could lead to more near autonomous vehicles on the continent.Although it has split opinion – where supporters see it as a breakthrough and safer than regular driving.While some cyclists and politicians are mixed between caution and optimism.”To be able to experience it firsthand here in the Netherlands, that’s unreal, because I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since Autonomy Day in 2019, where (Tesla CEO) Elon (Musk) said this is going to come, and the moment’s finally here.”Tesla’s FSD system can steer, brake and accelerate without hands on the wheel.Although a driver must remain attentive and ready to intervene.Roelandschap showed how the car first issued a warning and slowed to a stop with its hazard lights blinking.That after he gazed down at his lap, rather than the road, for too long.It’s a precaution to avoid drivers losing focus.”I have yet to notice or encounter a difficult road situation here. We have a lot of bikers trying to overtake us. We have bikers coming towards us. We have bikers coming from the left. What’s the dangerous thing here?”The reaction to FSD is mixed in Amsterdam.The city’s streets share a dense flow of bikes, trams, trucks and more.Esther van Garderen is head of the Dutch Cyclists’ Union and she argues the Netherlands is a challenge for self-driving.She’s concerned drivers could over-rely on the technology while paying less attention to the road.”Our concerns with the self-driving cars, letting them into the public space in the Netherlands, is that we have quite a unique traffic system in the world where all these cyclists are… And we are not fully assured that these self-driving cars will understand the behavior of Dutch cyclists, which is quite unique”The roll-out comes as Tesla bets on driver-assistance to revive slowing European sales.The EU is due to discuss approving the technology in May.