Legal Assistance

International Legislation

Technological developments in autonomous vehicles are already surpassing the people’s futuristic imaginations. In the meantime, the worldwide regulatory landscape facing the autonomous vehicle market is beginning to embrace these innovative vehicles and develop key aspects of regulatory schemes for the sector.

While there are only a few legislations governing automobiles in the world, it is clear that there are even fewer standards addressing autonomous vehicles. The 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic is one of the main international treaties that applies to automobiles; however, this Convention requires that a human driver must be present in full control of and responsible for the behavior of the vehicle in traffic. With the advancements in AV technology, the human driver requirement is now in question all over the world as are the number of countries proposing new legislations or reviewing their laws to allow the development and use of autonomous vehicles. There is also no legislative framework fully dedicated to automated vehicles in the EU. Yet, EU legislation is quickly developing so that it may accommodate adopting the automated, connected, and autonomous vehicles market.

Individual countries are also experiencing rapid development in AV legislations. While there is no united federal legislation governing autonomous vehicles in the US, there are unique regulations in 50 States. Currently, 29 States have passed legislation that allows vehicles with autonomous technology, 10 States have executive orders made by their governors, 9 states have laws that are pending or have failed during the voting process, and the remaining states have yet to take any action.

In Germany, the government amended its Road Traffic Act in July 2017 to allow for the concept of automated driving to be added to Law. As of February 2021, the German Federal Government further adopted a draft law on autonomous driving, which has become the first federal legislation in the world. As for the rest of the world, Singapore ranks at the top of the AV Readiness Index for rating on policy and legislation, encouraging the use of AVs as well as test sites and signaling the country’s readiness in its cities.