On 28 April 2021, the UK announced the forthcoming creation of regulations for the use of autonomous vehicles. Operating at reduced and limited speeds, these cars could be allowed on British roads by the end of the year. In France, legislation in this area was the subject of a national strategy for the development of automated road mobility, published last December.

The marketing of vehicles with the first level 3 autonomous driving functionalities is progressing. As of January 1, 2021, a UN regulation allows manufacturers to offer for sale individual vehicles with lane-keeping capabilities at a maximum speed of 60 kilometers per hour. The regulation, adopted by the UN World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations, stipulated that signatory countries (excluding China, the United States and Canada) could approve these lane-keeping systems after amending their traffic laws, while manufacturers were obliged to follow the strict requirements of the regulation. At the beginning of the year, only Germany seemed to be able to take advantage of the regulation, but things seem to be moving forward, particularly in the United Kingdom.

A unique regulation in Europe

The UK Department for Transport said it was working on the precise terms of an update to the Highway Code to include autonomous vehicles on the country’s roads. The speed limit for these vehicles will be 60 km/h, the British government said.

This regulation is in line with the UK’s desire to be forward-thinking in the field. By 2035, the British Ministry of Transport hopes that around 40% of vehicles will have automatic systems, which would create 38,000 jobs in the sector.

Many manufacturers, including American and Chinese technology giants, are working on autonomous systems for cars, although experts do not expect to see level 3 or 4 autonomous vehicles on the road for several years. The Chinese brand Huawei, for example, has launched its own electric and autonomous car, the Arcfox Alpha S. In 2018, Samsung unveiled an investment plan that included autonomous cars among other themes.

French legislation on autonomous car cases

On the French side, the country will soon be subject to the AI regulations announced by the European Commission last week. The level of risk regarding autonomous systems will have to be considered by France as part of the strategy it wishes to pursue for autonomous cars.

On December 15, the Ministry of Ecological Transition, on which the Ministry of Transport depends, published its national strategy for the development of automated road mobility. This text is based on 5 collective issues: the safe development of driving without an on-board operator, the improvement of connectivity functions, the validation of safety, acceptability and data management.

Several priority actions that fit into these five issues have been identified: support for innovation estimated at 300 million euros over the duration of the 2021-2025 future investment programme, taking into account the European approach as mentioned above and supporting the territories. As for the measures taken concerning the legislative and regulatory framework, it is planned, depending on the objectives, to:

• By the end of the first quarter of 2022: finalise the legislative and regulatory framework for the circulation of automated vehicles resulting from Article 31 of the LOM (L’Orientation des Mobilités), for vehicles with a driver on board and those (including those without a driver on board) used as part of an organised passenger transport service on a predefined route or area, on the other hand
• By the end of the second quarter of 2022: define the regulatory requirements for automated freight and logistics use cases
• By the end of the last quarter of 2022: finalise the legislative and regulatory framework for
  for data related to automation systems from Article 32 of the LOM and develop the relevant regulatory framework for automated freight and logistics use cases.
• Participate in the European work on the evolution of the Driving Licence Directive.

Translated from Le gouvernement britannique donne son feu vert à la présence de voitures autonomes sur les routes