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Autonomous driving: UN committee allows up to 130 km/h

2022-06-09T12:47:49.827Z


In the future, autonomous driving programs will be able to step on the gas: In certain situations, the maximum speed may be increased from 60 to 130 kilometers per hour. A UN body has agreed on this.


Enlarge image

Developers in a car with an autonomous driving system

Photo: Carsten Koall / picture alliance / dpa

Computer-controlled cars could soon be driving on freeways at high speeds.

The international panel of experts for automated and networked driving at the United Nations Economic Commission (UNECE) has agreed to increase the maximum speed for autonomous driving in certain traffic situations from 60 to 130 kilometers per hour, as the UNECE reported in Geneva.

Lane changes should also be allowed.

The proposal still needs to be approved by the UNECE World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations, which will meet on June 21-24.

The approval is considered a formality.

The rule would then come into effect after about six months.

More than 50 countries around the world are part of the agreement, including EU countries.

The USA, China and others regulate autonomous driving according to their own standards.

"The EU has already signaled in the working group that it wants to implement the new provision," said François Guichard, secretary of the expert panel.

"It's possible that consumers will be able to drive such cars in a year or two."

In Germany, Mercedes-Benz wants to be the first manufacturer to bring a car onto the market that can temporarily drive autonomously with a traffic jam assistant at speeds of up to 60 kilometers per hour.

At the autonomy level 3 out of 5, i.e. highly automated driving, the internationally valid road approval is a world premiere according to the company.

The first ordered vehicles with the Drive Pilot system are to be delivered in the summer.

Honda also delivers such a car in Japan.

Virtually all car manufacturers and tech companies like Google or Apple are also working on such techniques.

In addition, the electric car pioneer Tesla markets its systems as "Autopilot" and "FSD" (Full Self Driving), which, despite the promising names, only meet Level 2 of partially automated driving.

This means that Tesla drivers have to keep an eye on the traffic at all times, even when the "autopilot" is steering.

The FSD function has not yet been offered in Europe.

The UNECE rule could possibly help as an international legal framework to import the US system.

On both sides of the Atlantic, authorities are checking whether Tesla's assistance functions comply with the regulations.

So far, automated driving has been limited to certain traffic situations on the freeway, such as traffic jams.

In critical situations such as tunnels or when there is a risk of black ice, which cars automatically detect using cameras and sensors, drivers would be alerted and autonomous driving would be suspended.

So far, the Drive Pilot can only be used on motorways and up to 60 kilometers per hour.

The driver must be able to take control after ten seconds of inattention.

So far, autonomous driving has not been about getting into the car in the garage or in front of the front door and leaving the driving to a computer.

According to the UNECE, both the industry and the expert committee are working on such possibilities.

The Federal Ministry of Transport announced years ago that Germany should play a leading role in autonomous driving and would be the first country in the world to allow cars without drivers in everyday life.

Since July 2021, the use of driverless vehicles (Level 4), which differ from assistance systems (Level 2) such as automatic parking systems or cruise control, has been possible, at least in certain scenarios.

This applies to shuttle buses in certain areas such as exhibition or company premises or buses on defined routes.

There is no need for a safety driver to be present there at all times.

joe/dpa

Source: spiegel

All tech articles on 2022-06-09

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