National guidelines for trials of automated vehicles have been launched to support state and territory road agencies in providing exemptions or permits for trials.
Designed to give greater certainty to industry on conditions for trials, the guidelines have been jointly published by the National Transport Commission (NTC) and Austroads, the peak organisation of Australasian road transport and traffic agencies.
Chief Executive of the NTC Paul Retter said the guidelines were designed to be flexible and easy for industry to use, to support trials across Australia.
“We have worked closely with vehicle manufacturers, technology developers and federal, state and territory governments to ensure our approach to trials is nationally-consistent and reflects best practice.
{loadposition peter}“With a range of different environmental conditions, a receptive population and now guidelines for the safe conduct of trials, Australia has the potential to become a global testing and innovation hub for automated vehicles.”
Retter says industry will have enormous flexibility in the type of trials that can be run, simply needing to address some key issues, including having a clear scope of operations, a safety management plan that addresses risks, and appropriate insurance.
He also says trialling organisations will need to provide data from trials to road transport agencies, including details of any crashes.
“This approach allows industry to innovate – they just need to demonstrate that they are managing the risks, including any risk to other road users.”
State and territory governments are also reviewing their exemption powers to ensure that they have appropriate powers to support trials and Nick Koukoulas, chief executive of Austroads, said the guidelines draw on international best practice and have a strong focus on safety.
“By establishing a performance-based framework to support on-road trials, these guidelines aim to assure the Australian community that roads are being used safely.
“We’re looking forward to the Australian public getting a first-hand view of the benefits of these new and emerging technologies.”
Release of the guidelines is the first stage of the NTC’s reform roadmap to support the deployment of automated vehicles. Ministers agreed to the roadmap in November 2016, which includes a series of reforms to develop an end-to-end regulatory system for eventual commercial deployment of automated vehicles.
To view the guidelines go to the NTC and Austroads websites.