(Geneva) It will still be years before truly autonomous cars hit the roads, but the international rules that will regulate their use could be ready by mid-2026, according to the UN.
If concerns about security and development costs to gain additional autonomy have slowed progress, “the fundamental work in terms of regulation is progressing,” explains Dmitri Mariyasin, deputy executive secretary of UNECE, the agency of the UN which manages these complex questions of transport regulation.
The Global Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations was established in 1952 and brings together national authorities, car manufacturers and technology giants to find common ground applicable worldwide.
He found himself this week in Geneva.
Road rules
Unlike many other areas where legislation has great difficulty keeping up with the pace of innovation, here the rules precede the arrival of new technologies in daily life.
Thus, new UN rules on driving assistance systems were adopted in February and will come into force in September, underlines Richard Damm, chairman of the Working Group on Automated/Autonomous and Connected Vehicles ( GRVA).
What’s more, “we expect to have globally harmonized regulations on automated driving systems (ADS) ready by mid-2026,” he said.
This ignition advance is the rule rather than the exception in the automotive field, underlines François Guichard, Secretary of the GRVA, recalling that the regulations for electric vehicles were ready before their arrival on the market, and that the framework is also now in place for hydrogen vehicles, should the industry move towards mass production.
Five levels
There are five levels of autonomy, the first being already common.
At Level 2, drivers must remain attentive to traffic. At Level 3, the driver does not drive when automated systems are engaged, but can intervene at any time and must take over at the system’s request.
At Level 4, a driver does not need to be ready to intervene quickly, at least in limited areas, while Level 5 vehicles are fully autonomous.
According to François Guichard, level 1 and 2 technology is probably already present in half of all new vehicles.
“Level 3 is still rare and Level 4 does not exist for sale as a mass production product,” he points out.
Level 3 and 4 systems are “much more expensive,” so more in-depth driver assistance technology at Level 2 will likely come first, to bridge the gap with subsequent levels.
Road safety
“Is there a future for self-driving cars? I can clearly answer ‘yes’,” assures Mr. Damm.
“This technology is going to happen, and it’s partly on its way, even if it hasn’t penetrated the mass market yet. It will take a few more years before we see it on the mass market, because we have to solve several problems,” he admits.
Public safety concerns remain the top priority in establishing the regulatory framework.
Every year there are around 1.2 million road deaths and 50 million injuries.
“We do not yet know whether autonomous vehicles will be more of a problem or more of a solution,” emphasizes Dmitry Mariyasin.