A bunch of driverless cars are now being trialled in the UK, so it makes sense to give researchers a special kind of road-testing rulebook. After all, Britain's existing laws were never written with autonomous vehicles in mind. To support the new wave of research, the Department for Transport (DfT) has published a Code of Practice which sets out some basic ground rules for testing driverless cars on public roads. These include having a backup driver that can retake control at any moment. Operators should also hold an appropriate UK driving licence and be familiar with the technology inside the vehicle.
Most of the rules should be obvious -- for instance, the vehicles must be insured and always obey the UK's road laws. Even in an automated mode, however, the tester should adhere to the same rules as an active driver -- that means they can't use their mobile phone or anything else that might distract them. The Code of Practice also suggests alerting the highway authorities to testing zones and setting up a specialised contact with the local police and fire services. Finally, driverless cars should capture and store data while they're out on the road. Similar to a plane's flight recorder, this will give researchers and investigators a way to determine what went wrong after an accident or mechanical failure.
The Code of Practice shouldn't trouble the trials already underway in the UK. Most of the prototype vehicles haven't been designed for public roads anyway -- the Lutz pod and Meridian shuttle are gliding around parks and similar pedestrian spaces, for instance -- but it lays the groundwork for when researchers are ready to tackle the open road.
Filed under: Transportation
Source: Department for Transport
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