In a sign the law is failing to keep up with automated vehicle technology, a new study finds problems over identifying who is legally the driver.
The study by Charles Darwin University (CDU examines how road traffic laws are specific to human drivers, and how this legislation has limited application to automated vehicles (AVs), which can drive without human input.
The authors from CDU, Queensland University of Technology and the University of Newcastle found most legislative powers in Australia, to stop vehicles are subject to a human driver and whether they are violating road traffic laws.
The state of play with AVs
Currently automated systems beyond ADAS Level three are no legal in Australia but have been developed overseas
Australia currently allows Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Level 2 standard of automated driving, although ADAS systems have been developed at much higher levels.
Level 2 is categorised as partial driving automation where features provide a combination of steering and brake/acceleration support to the driver and is not categorised as automated driving by the government.
Under the SAE definitions, Level 3 means conditional automation under certain conditions – the car can be in control of up to 60km/h, but only on a freeway and the driver must be able to take back control within 10 seconds.
There have been protected legal battles in the US over Tesla’s automated driver system and who is responsible in a crash.
Last year Mercedes B-Benz who have been a pioneer in ADAS systems and is rolling out its Drive Pilot software as an optional extra in numerous countries, said for crashes using autonomous settings of level 3 or upwards, responsibility could lie with insurance providers, software developers, and automotive manufacturers rather than the driver.
Gap in the law
The problem in Australia, according to the CDU report is the legislation sometimes defines the driver as a person, and cites the example of police stopping powers in SA and Queensland.
“The driver dilemma can be strongly identified in these stopping powers, all of which are addressed to the ‘driver’,” lead author and CDU Senior Lecturer in Law Dr Mark Brady says.
“Powers directed to drivers to stop vehicles are problematic when applied to automated vehicles where the automated driving system cannot at law be considered a driver.”
Dr Brady wants the legislative change to be vehicle centric and passenger transport legislation should be used as a template to adapt road traffic laws to include automated vehicles.
“Passenger transport laws all have explicit objectives about the public interest in safe, efficient, and accessible passenger transport,” Dr Brady said.
“These vehicle-centric powers exist where there were significant public policy grounds to stop vehicles, irrespective of the driver’s conduct.”
Australian laws do not allow for the use of automated vehicles on public roads, but Australia is in the process of updating regulatory frameworks for the safe operation and use of automated vehicles on public roads.
Progress so far
So far infrastructure and transport ministers have met at the Infrastructure and Transport Ministers’ Meeting and agreed on a national approach to regulating automated vehicles but the form the law might take is still unclear.
The department is working with the National Transport Commission and state and territory governments to implement a new law called the Automated Vehicle Safety Law (AVSL) due in 2026.
It is being developed in line with the National in-service safety framework for automated vehicles developed by the National Transport Commission.
The plans are the AVSL will place the responsibility for the safety of an automated driving system on a corporation and not the human driver.
This corporation will need to have the right skills, capacity and capabilities to look after the automated driving system over its operational lifetime. The corporation will be known as the Automated Driving System Entity.
The government new Automated Vehicle Safety Law will be supported by complementary changes to state and territory legislation and to existing Commonwealth legislation such as the Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018.