Level 3 Autonomous cars need change in law

With Audi poised to launch the first production car capable of Level 3 autonomous driving (the A8, due later this year), and Mercedes proposing a lower level of automation (a "very sophisticated level 2 system, according to reports") in the new S-class at about the same time, the state of the law on autonomous cars (or lack of it) becomes of pressing importance. A new law in Germany await to approval of the upper chamber and is expected to become law in weeks.



The ability of countries to adopt suitable new laws is governed by the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. The 1968 Convention was amended with effect from 23 March 2016 to permit levels 3 and 4 of autonomous driving. Previously Article 8 stipulated that “Every driver shall at all times be able to control his vehicle or to guide his animals.” The new paragraph inserted into Article 8 provides:

5bis. Vehicle systems which influence the way vehicles are driven shall be deemed to be
in conformity with paragraph 5 of this Article and with paragraph 1 of Article 13, when
they are in conformity with the conditions of construction, fitting and utilization according
to international legal instruments concerning wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts which
can be fitted and/or be used on wheeled vehicles* 

Vehicle systems which influence the way vehicles are driven and are not in conformity with
the aforementioned conditions of construction, fitting and utilization, shall be deemed to be
in conformity with paragraph 5 of this Article and with paragraph 1 of Article 13, when
such systems can be overridden or switched off by the driver.

The five levels (six, if you include level zero, which is what we've all been doing until recently and most of us still are doing) are defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) in J3016, Taxonomy and Definitions for Terms Related to On-Road Motor Vehicle Automated Driving Systems. The classification is available here on Wikipedia and the levels of autonomy are usefully paraphrased as "hands on", "hands off", "eyes off", "mind off" and "wheel optional". Current Tesla models (using so-called "Autopilot" technology) are at level 2 (notwithstanding which some drivers seem to have assumed "Autopilot" meant level 5). The SAE calls Level 3 "conditional automation". Level 2 is referred to as "partial automation".



Automotive News Europe - Audi's A8 self-driving tech depends on regulatory changes.



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