Finland approves Tesla assisted driving system

Finland's Transport and Communications Agency said Wednesday it had approved Tesla's semi-autonomous assisted driving system for Finnish Tesla owners, allowing the company to offer it immediately in Finland.

The agency said the system can drive the vehicle without the driver physically touching the controls, using an AI-enabled computer fed by the car's cameras. It said the driver remains solely legally responsible, must constantly watch the road and must be ready to take over.

Traficom said the approval came after Tesla made changes to the system and before expected EU-wide approval next year. It said early access would let Finnish users become familiar with the system before the most challenging winter conditions arrive.

The system was formerly known as Full Self-Driving Supervised and is now called Tesla Assisted Driving. Traficom senior specialist Jukka Juhola said the new name described the system's nature and distinguished it from future genuinely self-driving cars.

Tesla cars already use the technology in the United States, Australia, Canada and South Korea. In Europe, the Netherlands authorised it in April, followed by Estonia, Belgium, Lithuania and Denmark.