What is now needed as self-driving cars approach real-world use

When we hear the term “self-driving cars”, we generally tend to imagine those which drive by themselves after a human has simply inputted the destination, but the current standard definition consists of the 5 levels of automated vehicles announced by the US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2013. At Level 0, a human operates all of the vehicle’s main control systems at all times. At Level 1, vehicles possess one or more specific automatic functions, each of which can operate independently. For example, these vehicles have functions such as automatic braking or cruise control. Vehicles at Level 2 possess multiple automatic functions which operate simultaneously. Vehicles at Level 3 control everything automatically. However, when a human judges that a particular situation does not permit the vehicle to remain in self-driving mode, it is possible to switch to manual mode and allow the human driver to control the vehicle. Finally, at Level 4, vehicles are totally automated. The system is in charge of all three elements required for safe driving: perception, judgment, and operation.

Automotive manufacturers around the world have been developing these technologies for self-driving over the last few decades, and have now reached the stage of carrying out experiments on public roads. However, although there are laws and systems of various kinds concerning vehicles permitted to drive on public roads, these have all been erected on the basis that “vehicles are driven by humans”. Therefore, it has become necessary to revise the law in line with these technological innovations. In 2014, a revision to the Vienna Convention, an international accord on road traffic, was adopted. This stated that even when a vehicle is in self-driving mode, as long as an instant switch to human driving is possible, the driver will be deemed to be operating the vehicle. It can be said that Level 3 of self-driving has been accepted as an international standard.

In Japan, too, Prime Minister Abe has issued a policy on the government’s interpretation stating that as long as there is a driver, this driver can be treated as being in control, even if the vehicle is in self-driving mode. From around October this year (2015), it will be possible to test vehicles not only on highways but also on ordinary roads, as long as the local police station is notified.

At the moment, tests of Level 3 self-driving cars are being carried out on public roads based on such “deemed regulations” and “interpretations”. However, in order to turn these test cars into vehicles that are available for sale, it is necessary to construct a firm legislative basis. The inclusion of lawyers in self-driving car development teams, and the addition from this year (2015) of two lawyers, including myself, to the self-driving car forum set up by the Science Council of Japan, have perhaps taken place because the real-world utilization of self-driving cars is finally in sight.

I believe that what will instead become important is to ascertain the cause of an accident and to use this information to prevent its recurrence. Self-driving cars are being developed on the premise of running safely, but it is surely difficult to uncover every unforeseen issue and malfunction in the current test vehicles. The response which is now under consideration is to make the installation of drive recorders compulsory. At present, these are used mainly as evidence to back up the driver’s claim when an accident takes place, but with self-driving cars, it is hoped that footage of accidents will help to elucidate the causes and to prevent their recurrence. In addition, in Level 3 self-driving cars, drive recorders will also help to prove whether a human or the system was driving at the time of the accident. It can be thought that submission of the drive recorder will also need to be made compulsory in accident trials.

Furthermore, a device to preserve data about the vehicle’s running conditions, similar to the flight recorder fitted in an aircraft, is also likely to become necessary. Some vehicles are currently equipped with self-diagnostic devices, but there is a need to standardize the contents recorded rather than allowing these to differ between manufacturers or models.

I believe that enshrining in law these obligations, to install a device recording images and data about the running conditions and to disclose this information, is another aspect of putting in place legislation to prepare for the era of self-driving cars.