Regulatory foundation laid for autonomous driving

The German Federal Cabinet has initiated an ordinance for the approval of autonomous motor vehicles on German roads. 

Soon, automated vehicles will be allowed to roll along German roads also from a regulatory point of view. Recently, the German Federal Cabinet has laid the foundation for this by issuing a regulation, according to which autonomous motor vehicles will be allowed to drive in regular operation in defined operating areas on public roads throughout Germany.  

According to statements by the Ministry of Transport, the core of the new law on autonomous driving is a detailed provision on the approval procedure for vehicles with autonomous driving functions by the Federal Motor Transport Authority. The ministry emphasises the enormous potential and the sustainable change in mobility that the new law will bring.  

However, it also points out that further steps are needed to realise the full technical potential in this area. For example, in passenger transport or logistics, the new technology offers enormous opportunities that should be utilised.  

The President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry also emphasised that the regulation at hand is a milestone to enable autonomous driving on German roads. The car manufacturers want to bring vehicles with autonomous driving functions into the market this year.  

The new regulation is also being seen as an important contribution to further development at the international level. Germany will support the development of harmonised regulations at EU and UNECE level. Germany is already an innovation driver in the field of mobility on international level. Thanks to Germany’s initiative, the Level 3 lane-keeping system was implemented at UN level, which can be used to avoid traffic jams, for example. Germany is also significantly involved in the extension of the UN regulation on ALKS (Automated Lane Keeping Systems), according to which the way is to be paved for a speed extension up to 130 km/h and the lane-changing capability of the system.