The South Korean government will review regulations on self-driving cars and ready safety system before autonomous vehicles hit the roads in the near future.

During a state affairs review meeting presided over by Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon on Thursday, the government announced a roadmap that proactively tackles regulations on self-driving cars. Under the guideline, the government will establish an insurance system for autonomous vehicles and improve regulations on observation and location information collection. It will also introduce a simplified license system for self-driving cars and expand driver targets.

The latest roadmap comes amid criticism on the government’s dilly-dallying in systematic updates and deregulations amid fast industrial transitions.

The guideline for self-driving vehicles, in particular, introduces 30 regulatory issues in four areas - driving subject, vehicle and equipment, operations, and infrastructure - and provides improvement plan.

When it comes to driving subject, the government will re-establish various responsibilities and subject involved in self-driving activity by next year to prepare for when a system drives the car instead of a driver currently defined in traffic rules.

It will also establish new system management responsibility of autonomous vehicles to improve safety. It will also apply autonomous driving functional definition to the country’s automobile management act, insurance regulation, and safety standards stage by stage considering self-driving technology that develops from conditional automation system where a driver needs to be in control to full automation.

The government will also establish regulation on control changeover so that driving control is safely transferred from system to steering wheel by requiring warning system and mode conversion display system.

In addition, the government will newly establish manufacturing standards for automobiles and components and introduce appropriate vehicle maintenance and inspection systems by each 2020 and 2022.

When it comes to operations, it will establish public consensus on reducing drivers’ civil and criminal responsibilities by clarifying compensation system on self-driving vehicle accidents. The government plans to refer to overseas cases and re-establish responsibility issues and introduce related insurance system by 2020.

By Yong Hwan-jin and Lee Eun-joo

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]