The Federal Minister of Transport Andreas Scheuer wants to establish Germany as a technological pioneer and integrate autonomous driving into regular operations within two years.
Music of the future
If the Federal Minister of Transport Andreas Scheuer has his way, a new law on autonomous driving in Germany should be passed in mid 2021. The minister wants to advance Germany technologically. The aim is that in less than two years, i.e. by 2022, “vehicles with autonomous driving functions will enter regular operation”. This should make Germany the first country in which cars are on the road without their own driver. He wants to bring the public up to date. This became known at the beginning of October. It is not yet known how the Transport Minister intends to deal with the concerns of the German Digital Industry Association. According to the association, it is questionable whether and to what extent the operator of an autonomous car is allowed to carry out other activities while driving. The law on automated driving has been in force in Germany since June 21, 2017. According to this law, driving tasks may be performed by the system of the autonomy level 3 under certain conditions. Control is transferred, but a driver is always required.
Fully autonomous driving should come!
According to a statement, the ministry now wants to create the legal framework for fully autonomous driving. This should then allow level 5 vehicles to drive in certain areas of public road traffic. Up to now, autonomous cars in public transport have only been allowed to drive on digital test fields, for example on the A9. The Minister of Transport counts among these “certain areas” for example shuttle traffic, “people mover”, hub2hub traffic, demand-oriented offers in marginal times, transport of people and/or goods on the first or last mile and “dual mode vehicles”.
New law mid 2021
The new law is intended to regulate the technical requirements for the construction, condition and equipment of motor vehicles with autonomous driving functions. In addition, of course, the test and approval procedures for the Federal Motor Transport Authority. The obligations for the operators of an autonomous car will also be listed in more detail here. Data protection must also be taken into account. Subsequently, functions such as “sleep”, which are intended for autonomous cars, are to be included in the law. Currently, the law is still being adapted to the regions concerned. Then the draft is to go to the state and association hearings. The goal remains to conclude the process by mid 2021.
