New Automated Vehicle Trial Guidelines
Two of the key policy bodies for road and vehicle use in Australia, AustRoads and the National Transport Commission (NTC), have jointly developed new “Guidelines for Trials of Automated Vehicles in Australia” (Guidelines), published on 24 May 2017.
The Guidelines are the first step in framework for reform of Australia’s transport regulatory systems to accommodate the rise of automated vehicles.
Organisations seeking to trial highly or fully automated vehicles (ie vehicles that can operate largely or completely without a human driver) in Australia will need to refer to the Guidelines when applying for permits and exemptions from Australian regulators for the trials, and when planning for and conducting their trials.
The Guidelines require submission to regulators of information in four categories when seeking exemptions or permits for trials:
Key management criteria
Insurance
Safety Management Plan
Data and information
The Guidelines are not intended to be appropriate for widespread deployment of automated vehicles. The requirements for large-scale deployment of automated vehicles in Australia are currently under development.
The purpose of the Guidelines and the information required in each of these categories is described further below.
Purpose and applicability of the Guidelines
Under existing Australian regulatory frameworks, highly or fully automated vehicles cannot legally be operated on public roads. This means that organisations seeking to trial automated vehicle technology need to seek exemptions and permits relating to their regulatory obligations from the various State and Territory agencies that regulate use of roads and vehicles in Australia (road transport agencies) and other regulators involved in vehicle use in Australia (eg the Commonwealth in relation to importation of vehicles and heavy vehicle regulation, Local Governments in residential areas).
The Guidelines are designed as a uniform set of mandatory requirements to be applied by road transport agencies and addressed by trialling agencies in any application for permits and exemptions for, and when conducting, an automated vehicle trial. They aim to:
Support nationally consistent conditions for automated vehicle trials
Provide certainty and clarity to industry around testing
Help road transport agencies manage trials in their States and across borders
Establish minimum safety standards for trials
Help raise awareness and acceptance of automated vehicles by the public
The Guidelines are also intended as a useful guide to organisations conducting automated vehicle trials that use lower levels of automation (eg automation of only some driving functions whilst maintaining human control of the vehicle), which do not require specific approval from road transport agencies.
Criteria for automated vehicle trials to address
Under the Guidelines, an application for permission to conduct an automated vehicle trial must address each of the following criteria (or otherwise explain why it is not relevant):
The Guidelines are designed to be suitable for most trials of automated vehicles, including cross-border trials and commercial trials (eg trials by ride-sharing or taxi operations). However, they are not suitable for large-scale deployment of automated vehicles – the requirements for which are still under development.
The Guidelines have been developed with the input of members of the industry, including vehicle manufacturers and automated technology developers and AustRoads and the NTC’s aim is that the Guidelines will promote Australia as a “testbed” for automated vehicle technology. Trials of automated vehicle technology in Australia have so far been quite limited, and time will tell if the Guidelines will increase the frequency or scale of trials in Australia. The technology and regulatory regimes needed for society to realise the sizable safety and economic benefits of truly automated vehicles remains some time off for now, but a clear, consistent and well understood environment for trials to occur is an important step in the process.