Germany legalises autonomous driving on public roads

Although the United States remains the centre of autonomous car development, places such as California and Nevada will no longer be the only options for car manufacturers to test their autonomous technology. Germany has passed a law that gives car brands permission to test their autonomous vehicles on public roads, provided that a series of safety conditions are met.

Among the legal requirements that the German government has imposed on manufacturers wishing to test their autonomous vehicles on the country’s roads, the need for the driver to be attentive to the driving at all times stands out. Another legal requirement is that autonomous cars must be fitted with a “black box”, like those on aircraft, to help investigators reconstruct what happened in the event of an accident or breakdown.

Should any kind of mishap occur, German legislation has made it clear that while the vehicle is in motion, the blame will fall on the driver, but if it is shown that the fault lay with the autonomous system, responsibility will be assumed by the manufacturer.

Alexander Dobrindt, Germany’s Minister of Transport, has stated that “with this law we allow the driver to take their hands off the steering wheel to, for example, search for something on the internet or check their email”. In addition, the German government has ensured that data will be stored for six months and handed over to the authorities.

Thanks to the approval of this law, German car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, BMW and Audi will be able to test their new autonomous driving systems on their own home ground, without the need to travel to the USA.

The German Federal Council plans to review the law within two years, before autonomous vehicles reach the market. Manufacturers around the world are working on autonomous vehicle prototypes, but these cars are not expected to be available to the public before 2020.