Skip to main content

Norway plans self-driving car tests on public roads

The Norwegian Government is to consult on a proposal for a new law that would allow self-driving vehicles on the country’s roads, with the aim of passing the bill in the spring of 2017. The objective is to facilitate the testing of self-driving vehicles on Norwegian roads by the public within the framework of traffic safety while protecting the integrity of personal information. By allowing the public to test self-driving vehicles in Norway, the Government hopes to facilitate the development and testing
January 5, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The Norwegian Government is to consult on a proposal for a new law that would allow self-driving vehicles on the country’s roads, with the aim of passing the bill in the spring of 2017. The objective is to facilitate the testing of self-driving vehicles on Norwegian roads by the public within the framework of traffic safety while protecting the integrity of personal information.

By allowing the public to test self-driving vehicles in Norway, the Government hopes to facilitate the development and testing of new technologies in Norway and keep Norwegian technology companies competitive.

The government plans to gradually introduce self-driving vehicles. Only technologically mature systems will be approved for testing, with the purpose of understanding the effects self-driving vehicles have on traffic safety, traffic efficiency and mobility – and what impact they will have on the environment. The consultation explains how an application process could be set up to issue permits to persons or companies that wish to test out this new technology on Norwegian roads. The consultation also suggests conditions for approving such permits.

Related Content

  • High-speed WIM moves onto the main highway
    May 24, 2016
    High-speed weigh-in-motion is starting to make its mark on both sides of the Atlantic. As a transit country the Czech Republic experiences a large number of overloaded vehicles, which greatly increase highway maintenance costs. This prompted its Transport Ministry to trial an extension of the capabilities of the existing truck tolling system to allow the dynamic high-speed weighing of cargo vehicles. In effect the tolling enforcement gantries become weigh-in-motion (WIM) locations.
  • Distraction dominated teen driver accident causes.
    June 3, 2015
    As a new report shows that distracted driving is a bigger cause of accidents than previously thought, Jon Masters asks what should be done to counter this problem. Research carried out by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has shed new light on the dangers of distraction for teen drivers. Six years of study using video analysis has shown that 58% of all crashes involving teen drivers are caused by the driver being distracted and proved that the influence of external factors is stronger than previously th
  • Hard shoulder running aids uniform traffic flow and safer driving
    January 23, 2012
    David Crawford detects a market for European experience. Well-established now in at least three European countries, Hard Shoulder Running (HSR) on motorways is exciting growing interest in the US. A November 2010 Report to Congress by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), on the Efficient Use of Highway Capacity, notes the role of HSR in the European-style Active Traffic Management (ATM) strategies now being recommended for implementation in the US where, until recently, they were virtually unknown.
  • Ken Leonard talks to ITS International
    August 21, 2014
    Ken Leonard, director of the USDOT’s ITS Joint Program office made time in his schedule during the Helsinki Congress to speak to ITS International. It has been 18 months since Ken Leonard took over as the director of the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office at the US Department of Transportation. With 30 years of technical experience behind him, to say he is enjoying the challenge would be to put it mildly: “It is incredibly exciting to be working in intelligent transportation systems, th