|
To make a significant contribution to increasing road safety
and improving mobility worldwide, the transport ministers of the group of seven
states (G7) and the European Commissioner for Transport will jointly support
developments in the field of automated and connected driving. Their G7
Declaration on Automated and Connected Driving will address fundamental issues
related to the harmonization of the regulatory framework and the role and
obligations of drivers using this new technology.
 The ministers believe it only possible to fully harness the
full potential of connected vehicles if appropriate steps are taken to
establish a harmonized regulatory framework, enabling the safe deployment of
these innovative technologies across national borders. According to the declaration,
fundamental issues such as the roles and obligations of drivers must be
resolved, and automated and connected driving technologies must be rendered
reliable and safe in every respect and in a timely manner.
The declaration states that the following aspects of
automated driving are of outstanding significance and require sustained
cooperation among the G7 transport ministers and the European Commissioner for
Transport:
- Coordinating research
- Promoting international standardization within an
international regulatory framework
- Evolving the technical regulations
- Ensuring data protection and cybersecurity
The transport ministers of the G7 and the European
Commissioner for Transport anticipate that higher automation functions are
likely to be first used on near motorway standard roads. Based on the lessons learned
there, it is then likely to gradually find its way into more complex fields of
application and, ultimately, to also be deployed in urban and regional
transport.
New Zealand has been an early and keen adopter of the new
technology, and automated vehicle technology is now one of the most active
fields of automotive research in the country. The New Zealand government hopes
that supporting the testing of autonomous vehicles will result in benefits for
the country, encouraging rapid uptake once the technology is commercially
available. Increasing levels of automated vehicle technologies are already making
a dramatic impact on the transport sector, and future possibilities could
profoundly affect the way in which people and goods move about.
The government encourages the testing of semiautonomous and fully
autonomous vehicles, as well as other intelligent transport system (ITS)
technologies. The New Zealand ITS Technology Action Plan 2014–2018 recognizes
the potential improvements in safety and efficiency offered by emerging
transport technologies such as autonomous vehicles. The plan sets out a working
program to promote such technology and ensure that no obstacles stand in the
way of its continued deployment.
A particular advantage of testing autonomous vehicles in New
Zealand is that the legislation does not explicitly require a vehicle to have a
driver present for the car to be used on the road. As long as any testing is
carried out safely, a truly driverless vehicle may be tested on public roads.
In addition, New Zealand has an advanced winter testing facility (Southern
Hemisphere Proving Grounds) that is already widely used by vehicle
manufacturers during counter-seasonal testing.
Full article: IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine, Volume 11, Number 2 (June 2016) | 
;){kind=small}
