The UN proposes amendments to UN Regulation No. 157
This could be a landmark decision for mobility, as the UN proposes to extend speed limits for automated driving in certain traffic areas from the current 60 km/h up to 130 km/h.
The draft amendment to UN Regulation No. 157, which has been approved by the Working Party on Automated/Autonomous and Connected Vehicles (GRVA) mainly focuses on increasing the maximum speed for automated driving systems (ADS) for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles on highways and allows automated lane changes.
The proposal follows the learnings from various countries following the adoption of the UN Automated Lane Keeping Systems (ALKS) regulation in June 2020. To achieve this milestone, safety remains at the core of automation development, as these systems can only be activated under certain conditions on roads where pedestrians and cyclists are prohibited. Furthermore, the roads must be equipped with a physical barrier separating traffic in opposite directions. In addition, the driver must be able to override such systems and be requested by the system to regain control of the vehicle at any time.
The new features must also meet the strict cybersecurity and software update requirements set out in the relevant UN regulations. The draft requires the automated driving system to comply with local traffic regulations. Moreover, car manufactures must build in a DSSAD (Data Storage System for Automated Driving), which can be described as a kind of “black box” that records when the automated driving system is activated and when lane changes are initiated by the system.
The draft will be submitted to the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations for adoption at its next meeting on June 21-24, 2022. If approved, it will enter into force in January 2023 in the states that choose to adopt it.
