Japan Sets Draft Rules for Unmanned Vehicle Road Tests

Tokyo, April 13 (Jiji Press)--The National Police Agency on Thursday released draft rules for test runs of remote-controlled unmanned vehicles on public roads in Japan. Under the draft, such road tests will require police permission for the use of public roads. The agency decided to allow road tests for such vehicles flexibly under the current road traffic law, which must be revised in order to put the vehicles into practical use, officials said. The NPA plans to introduce the road test rules after a public comment period, by amending the regulations that govern the prefectural public safety commissions. Prefectural police across Japan are seen accepting applications for public road use to test unmanned vehicles from summer this year at the earliest. The draft says all unmanned vehicles to be tested on public roads must go through checks by driver's license examiners at police. Aboard the vehicles, they will confirm whether the brake, accelerator and other key equipment can be operated appropriately by remote control. Under the draft, those carrying out such road experiments will be required to test their vehicles in places where they will not obstruct traffic. Other requirements include safety systems that stop vehicles automatically if communications trouble occurs. Data collected at test facilities will also be examined before road test permission is given. Those operating and monitoring unmanned vehicles by remote control must have driver's licenses and will bear the same responsibilities as the drivers of the manned vehicles, according to the draft. The maximum period of permission will be six months. Those conducting such road tests will be required to provide materials on details of their vehicles to local fire authorities and brief local residents on the test plans beforehand. The agency began discussing the rules for unmanned vehicle road tests in June last year. The rules will add to the existing guidelines for similar road experiments involving manned autonomous vehicles. END