Automated vehicles need ‘driving tests’

European Union rules on safety approvals for new cars will need to be revised to include ‘driving tests’ for automated and fully-autonomous vehicles according to a new report from the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). ETSC says the EU is far from answering the many research and regulatory questions that must be considered before automated and autonomous vehicles can be put on sale. The report says the priority must be ensuring that the promised safety benefits are delivered in real world driving.
April 26, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

European Union rules on safety approvals for new cars will need to be revised to include ‘driving tests’ for automated and fully-autonomous vehicles according to a new report from the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC).
 
ETSC says the EU is far from answering the many research and regulatory questions that must be considered before automated and autonomous vehicles can be put on sale. The report says the priority must be ensuring that the promised safety benefits are delivered in real world driving.
 
One challenge will be ensuring that autonomous cars sold in Europe are capable of following national road rules in 28 EU countries – hence the need for a comprehensive ‘driving test’ to independently verify that vehicles will operate safely under all conditions.
 
Many questions remain over how autonomous vehicles will interact with other human-driven vehicles as well as vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists according to the report.
 
Antonio Avenoso, ETSC executive director said: “Automated vehicles are already starting to appear on Europe’s roads, but regulators are still stuck in the slow lane. It is crucial that we get a much greater understanding of what the real world safety benefits would be, and what new risks would be introduced before these vehicles are put on sale.“
 
In the short term, ETSC is calling on the EU to require mandatory installation of effective and proven driver assistance systems including automated emergency braking and over-rideable Intelligent speed assistance in all new cars and to develop a new EU framework for approving future automated technologies as well as fully autonomous vehicles.
 
As well as safety approval rules for new cars, the report says EU driving licence regulations will need to be updated to reflect the need for drivers to learn how to safely take back command from automated driving systems. EU rules on road infrastructure safety should also be revised to include requirements for automated and semi- automated vehicles such as clear road markings.
 
ETSC also says carmakers must apply full openness and transparency in disclosing collision data for automated vehicles in order that the information can be used to help prevent future collisions. 

Location Based Systems

Related Content

  • Semi-automated trucks take to European roads
    March 16, 2016
    Early next month six European truck manufacturers will bring platoons of semi-automated trucks to public roads, crossing borders from various European cities in order to reach their final destination of the Port of Rotterdam on 6 April. The overall objective of this European Truck Platooning Challenge is to accelerate the introduction of truck platoons by putting the subject high on the agenda of EU policy makers. The Platooning Challenge, organised by the Netherlands as part of its ongoing EU Presidency
    Read More
  • Cooperative road infrastructures - progress and the future
    February 1, 2012
    Robert Bertini, deputy administrator of the USDOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, discusses the research and deployment paths of cooperative road infrastructures. High-level analysis by the US's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the potential of Vehicle-to-Infrastructure/Infrastructure-to-Vehicle (V2I/I2V) and Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) technologies indicates that V2V could in exclusivity address a large proportion of crashes involving unimpaired drivers. In fact,
    Read More
  • Call for targeted safety measures to prevent road deaths among young drivers
    January 26, 2017
    Zero tolerance on drink driving, additional hazard perception training and graduated forms of licensing should become the norm to help tackle the risks faced by young drivers and motorcycle riders in Europe, according to the YEARS report (Young Europeans Acting for Road Safety. More than 3,800 young people (aged 18-24) are killed each year on EU roads – the biggest single cause of death for this age group. A report by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) and the UK Parliamentary Advisory Council
    Read More
  • Shaking up the taxi market with smarter ride requests
    February 24, 2016
    Timothy Compston looks at the rise of Uber and ride request mobile apps. There is little doubt that the advent of Uber has come as major shock to established taxi operators and has caused regulators, cities and DOTs to rethink current regulations so they can keep pace with the changing dynamics of the marketplace.
    Read More

Highlighted Content