Page - (000174) - in Autonomes Fahren - Technische, rechtliche und gesellschaftliche Aspekte

Autonomous Driving – Political, Legal, Social, and Sustainability Dimensions162 lagging behind the US. Autonomous driving is forging ahead in the US where steps are currently being taken to advance the technology by states adopting laws allowing for pub- lic road testing. However, Europe continues to lag behind the US with restrictive legislation that could, for the foreseeable future, effectively prevent the introduction of more advanced autonomous driving systems”. The report notes that “while the technology is ready, appro- priate infrastructures and legal framework are still missing” [34]. In May 2014, the govern- ments of Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, and Austria jointly proposed an amendment that was agreed to by the U.N. Working Party on Road Traffic Safety. The amendment would allow self-driving technologies as long as the system “can be overridden or switched off by the driver” [40]. If agreed upon by the parties to the convention, this could ease condi- tions for research and development of autonomous vehicles in many countries. For a more critical discussion see also section 8.4.6. 8.4.2 USA The United States is the most advanced nation in terms of introducing autonomous driving vehicles into its transport system. Legislation on autonomous driving has been passed in California, Michigan, Nevada, Florida, and the District of Columbia. In another six states – Arizona, Colorado, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas – the legislative attempts failed or are pending. There are another dozen states with ongoing regulatory initiatives. Some common features of their regulation regard the definitions of autonomous driving and autonomous vehicles employed and the conditions for obtaining operation and testing permission. Liability issues are also beginning to gain attention. California has set a 2015 deadline for the establishment of liability rules [51]. The newly enacted legislation in the United States has been developed with an eye towards allowing the testing of autonomous driving vehicles; most existing legislation is very restrictive regarding their use. At this stage neither the US government nor the automotive industries want to take large risks in relation to a technology that is still in an early development stage and that must still prove its reliability and safety. The same could be said for the other countries looked at here. Regulatory initiatives in the United States were a direct response to Google’s push for legal clarification regarding the status of autonomous vehicles. Google, an active developer of self-driving software and technology, has lobbied state by state for the legislation enabling the operation of self-driving vehicles. Various US politicians have strongly spoken up for the technology. Governors and other state politicians have on various occasions praised autonomous vehicles in public and claimed their leadership relative to other states by being frontrunners in passing supportive legislation. Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval in early summer 2011 upon the passage of his state’s first law on autonomous driving vehicles stated: “Nevada is the first state in the country that is going to be (adopting) regulations for this vehicle (…) I think it is important for Nevada to be first on this. This is going to be part of the future and Nevada has always been