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Automated Driving and the Future of Traffic Law

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Regulating New Technologies in Uncertain Times

Part of the book series: Information Technology and Law Series ((ITLS,volume 32))

Abstract

Fully automated vehicles that can operate without human interference are getting closer to reality. Fully automated vehicles are expected to offer many benefits, from limiting the need for parking space to increased road traffic safety. Besides all the technical challenges, this development also gives rise to several legal questions. This is not surprising given that most national and international traffic laws are based on the notion that a human driver is behind the wheel. What is the legal consequence of letting the vehicle drive itself? This contribution will focus on the legal challenges automated driving poses for traffic law. Other legal questions will also be touched upon, for instance questions regarding liability and insurance, but the emphasis will lie on questions regarding traffic laws as the answers to those questions can influence the answers to the other legal questions. This contribution will discuss if an automated vehicle still has a driver within the meaning of the Geneva Convention on road traffic 1949 and the Vienna Convention on road traffic 1968, that form the base of many national traffic laws across the globe. It will be explored how, if necessary, these Conventions can be revised in order to accommodate automated driving. Inspiration will be drawn from national and international maritime traffic laws and from international aviation traffic law.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    National Safety Council (2017) Estimates Show Vehicle Fatalities Topped 40,000 for Second Straight Year. www.nsc.org/road-safety/safety-topics/fatality-estimates. Last accessed 14 August 2018.

  2. 2.

    Hull et al. (2018) Hyperdrive. Uber Crash Highlights Odd Job: Autonomous Vehicle Safety Driver. www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-23/uber-crash-highlights-odd-job-autonomous-vehicle-safety-driver. Last accessed 14 August 2018.

  3. 3.

    Hawkins AJ (2018) Uber’s self-driving car showed no signs of slowing before fatal crash, police say. www.theverge.com/2018/3/19/17140936/uber-self-driving-crash-death-homeless-arizona. Last accessed 14 August 2018.

  4. 4.

    The relatives of the victim in the accident in Tempe settled with UBER: Reuters (2018) Uber settles with family of woman killed by self-driving car. www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/29/uber-settles-with-family-of-woman-killed-by-self-driving-car?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other. Last accessed 14 August 2018.

  5. 5.

    The State of Arizona regulated barely anything at the time of the accident.

  6. 6.

    SAE 2018.

  7. 7.

    SAE 2018.

  8. 8.

    SAE 2018.

  9. 9.

    On the road. www.waymo.com/ontheroad/. Last accessed 14 August 2018.

  10. 10.

    Volvo Drive me. www.volvocars.com/intl/buy/explore/intellisafe/autonomous-driving/drive-me. Last accessed 14 August 2018.

  11. 11.

    See for instance National Conference of State Legislatures: Autonomous Vehicles, Self-driving vehicles enacted legislation. www.ncsl.org/research/transportation/autonomous-vehicles-self-driving-vehicles-enacted-legislation.aspx (last accessed 14 August 2018) for an overview.

  12. 12.

    It is now under specific conditions allowed to use highly or fully automated driving functions (“hoch- und vollautomatisierte Fahrfunktion”), see § 1a, § 1b Straßenverkehrsgesetz. See also (2017) Straßenverkehrsgesetz für automatisiertes Fahren geändert. www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2017/kw13-de-automatisiertes-fahren/499928. Last accessed 14 August 2018.

  13. 13.

    Kamerstukken II 2017/18, 34838. See http://www.zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/dossier/34838 (Accessed 14 August 2018) for the latest developments.

  14. 14.

    NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts, February 2015. See also Smith 2013.

  15. 15.

    See for instance (2018) Self-driving cars offer huge benefits—but have a dark side. Policymakers must apply the lessons of the horseless carriage to the driverless car. www.economist.com/news/leaders/21737501-policymakers-must-apply-lessons-horseless-carriage-driverless-car-self-driving. Last accessed 14 August 2018.

  16. 16.

    Article 6ff, Directive 2007/46/EC.

  17. 17.

    See Articles 4, 34–35 and Annex IV of Directive 2007/46/EC, The EU is a Contracting Party to the UNECE Revised 1958 Geneva Agreement by virtue of council decision 97/836/EC or subsequent council decisions.

  18. 18.

    UNECE World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) is responsible for developing and updating these regulations. www.unece.org/trans/main/wp29/introduction.html. Last accessed 14 August 2018.

  19. 19.

    The United States do not use a system of type-approval. Instead, manufacturers have to self-certify the compliance of their vehicles with the FMVSS.

  20. 20.

    Letter from NHTSA to Chris Urmson 2016.

  21. 21.

    Letter from NHTSA to Chris Urmson 2016.

  22. 22.

    See on ethical dilemma’s concerning automated driving: Ethik-Kommission automatisiertes und vernetztes Fahren 2017.

  23. 23.

    Marchant and Lindor 2012.

  24. 24.

    Schrader 2016; Engelhard 2017; Schellekens 2015.

  25. 25.

    Engelhard and De Bruin 2017; Marchant and Lindor 2012.

  26. 26.

    Van Dam 2013; Tjong Tjin Tai and Boesten 2016.

  27. 27.

    Reese 1994; De Schrijver and Maes 2010; Engelhard 2017.

  28. 28.

    Van Dam 2013.

  29. 29.

    Vellinga 2017; Schellekens 2015; Van Wees 2016; Verbond van Verzekeraars Toekomstvisie Automotive. Onderweg naar morgen www.verzekeraars.nl/media/4684/onderweg-naar-morgen.pdf. Accessed 14 August 2018.

  30. 30.

    The Vienna Convention was the answer to a growing demand for greater uniformity of national regulations than under the Geneva Convention (Attachment email Robert Nowak, United Nations, to author, 1 June 2017).

  31. 31.

    Preamble Geneva Convention, preamble Vienna Convention.

  32. 32.

    The testing of automated vehicles on public roads is allowed under the Geneva Convention and the Vienna Convention.

  33. 33.

    United Nations Conference on Road and Motor Transport, Committee III on Road Traffic, Summary Record of the Seventeenth Meeting, held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on Tuesday, 6 September 1949 at 3 p.m., E/CONF.8/C.III/SR.17/Rev.1, 21 November 1949, p. 2; Vellinga et al. 2016; Lutz 2014; Smith 2014.

  34. 34.

    See also N.E. Vellinga (forthcoming) Self-driving vehicles: preparing road traffic law for a driverless future, Conference Proceedings ITS World Congress Copenhagen, 17–21 September 2018.

  35. 35.

    Freely translated: (…) who starts to set the vehicle in motion, who keeps the vehicle moving or who is generally occupied with the operation of the vehicle or with the handling of traffic operations. If a driver does not bring his vehicle to a halt due to traffic conditions, he remains the driver of the motor vehicle so long as he is still in the vehicle and occupied with the operation of the vehicle or with the handling of traffic operations. This is usually no longer the case if he has stopped the vehicle and turned off the engine. Bundesgerichtshof (BGH)4 StR 592/16, 27 April 2017, ECLI:DE:BGH:2017:270417U4STR592.16.0.

  36. 36.

    BGH 22.03.1977, VI ZR 80/75.

  37. 37.

    Hoge Raad (HR) 13 August 2005, ECLI:NL:HR:2005:AT7292, NJ 2005/542.

  38. 38.

    HR 13 August 2005, ECLI:NL:HR:2005:AT7292, NJ 2005/542.

  39. 39.

    HR 12 June 1990, ECLI:NL:HR:1990:ZC8550, NJ 1991/29, VR 1990/158; HR 23 February 1999, ECLI:NL:HR:1999:ZD348, VR 2000/81.

  40. 40.

    HR 2 February 1965, ECLI:NL:HR:1965:AB3467, NJ 1965/281; HR 26 January 1971, ECLI:NL:HR:AB5997, NJ 1971/208; HR 1 December 1987, ECLI:NL:HR:1987:AB7814, NJ 1988/689; HR 2 October 1990, ECLI:NL:HR:1990:ZC8593, NJ 1991/380.

  41. 41.

    See also UNECE Global Forum for Road Traffic Safety 2017. See on the discussion on legal personhood for robots: European Parliament resolution of 16 February 2017 with recommendations to the Commission on Civil Law Rules on Robotics (2015/2103(INL)); (2018) Open letter to the European Commission, Artificial intelligence and robotics https://g8fip1kplyr33r3krz5b97d1-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/RoboticsOpenLetter.pdf. Last accessed 14 August 2018; Hartlief 2018.

  42. 42.

    See also Von Bodungen and Hoffmann 2016.

  43. 43.

    For instance, the autopilot on board of a ship needs to be regularly checked by a crew member, see the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers.

  44. 44.

    Cockcroft and Lameijer 2012.

  45. 45.

    World Health Organization 2004.

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  1. Faculty of Law, University of Groningen, PO Box 716, 9700 AS, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Nynke E. Vellinga

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Correspondence to Nynke E. Vellinga .

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  1. Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society (TILT), Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands

    Leonie Reins

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Vellinga, N.E. (2019). Automated Driving and the Future of Traffic Law. In: Reins, L. (eds) Regulating New Technologies in Uncertain Times. Information Technology and Law Series, vol 32. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-279-8_5

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