While the British governmenthas authorized the presence of level 3 autonomous vehicles on public roads, it is now Germany’s turn to propose a first legal framework around these transport systems. On May 19, the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament, approved a law that would allow certain autonomous vehicles to drive on public roads. If the text is validated by the Bundesrat, the upper house of the German parliament, cars with a level 4 autonomy system could be used in certain settings.
Germany wants to catch up with autonomous systems
The bill entitled “The Compulsory Insurance Act – Autonomous Driving Act” was approved by the Bundestag on 19 May. With this new text, Germany wants to catch up with automated driving while encouraging further research on the subject. According to the law, it is by introducing appropriate measures that it will be possible to exploit the full potential of these technologies, in particular by having the possibility of testing them in public spaces.
Ulrich Lange, deputy leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, who spoke on the approval of the bill by the Bundestag, also said:
“This is the world’s first legal framework for autonomous driving in regular operation. In public road traffic, for example, small driverless shuttles can be used to transport people or goods on predetermined routes. If, in exceptional cases, problems arise while driving, a technical control centre could be called in and could allow separate driving manoeuvres to be carried out on the vehicle. This law is an encouraging signal for our engineers. One of the goals is to show that we legislators are bringing their innovations to the roads here in Germany and making them tangible for our citizens.”
A fuzzy European framework allowing for the creation of a national legal framework.
Despite the recent regulation around artificial intelligence systems, the law states that there is no adequate legal framework for autonomous vehicles at the European level. The legislative framework approved by the European Parliament on May 30, 2018 initiates that a person behind the wheel of an autonomous vehicle must always have the ability to have full possession of the vehicle’s functionality.
However, the German law states that the latest innovations in autonomy allowing vehicles to be designed without the need for someone behind the wheel. There is therefore nothing to prevent Germany from proposing a legal framework for driverless autonomous vehicles.
The German legislative framework would allow vehicles with Level 4 autonomous systems to be operated in specified areas nationwide.
Measures taken with regard to autonomous vehicles in Germany
Among the scenarios considered by this legislative framework are:
- Shuttle services to get from point A to point B.
- Special buses taking a specific daily route (e.g. to work)
- Hub2Hub freight services
- Offers adapted to demand during off-peak hours
- Transport of people or goods on the first or last kilometers (to go from the airport, or a port, to the distribution center, for example)
- Autonomous valet parking systems
The law aims to regulate:
- Technical requirements for the construction, quality and equipment of autonomous vehicles.
- The examinations and procedures for issuing the operating permit for autonomous vehicles by the Federal Road Transport Authority.
- Measures concerning the obligations of persons involved in driving autonomous vehicles
- Data processing when driving autonomous vehicles
- The possible activation of automated and autonomous driving functions of vehicles and their deactivation if necessary.
- Testing of automated and autonomous vehicles.
Andreas Scheuer, Germany’s Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Networks, said of the future implementation of the law:
“We want Germany to be the first country in the world to put autonomous vehicles from research laboratories on the road. We have now taken a decisive step towards this goal. I am very pleased that the German Bundestag has paved the way and passed the autonomous driving bill. The bill is now before the Bundesrat for approval. We need a rapid implementation of innovations in the transformation process so that Germany can continue to be the international leader in autonomous driving.”
As reported by Andreas Scheuer, the bill, although approved by the Bundestag, must be validated by the Bundesrat, the German federal council that represents Germany’s 16 regions (Länder), this May 28.
Translated from Allemagne : Le Bundestag approuve le nouveau cadre législatif sur les véhicules autonomes
