A car pulls along the Autobahn at 130 km/h while the driver is engrossed in his mobile phone. This is already happening now. In the future, however, this will be allowed, because: The United Nations Economic Commission (UNECE) has agreed to increase the maximum speed for autonomous driving in certain traffic situations from 60 to 130 km/h.
Automatic lane changes should also be allowed. And of course other activities than checking e-mails on the cell phone, such as reading a book, watching Netflix or taking care of the passenger. Or the kids in the back seat. The driver only has to be able to take over the wheel again “on demand”. Of course, all this also applies to drivers and passengers. The proposal still has to be approved by the UNECE World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations, which is meeting from 21 to 24 June. 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 US, 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 regulation,” said Francois Guichard, secretary of the expert panel. “It is possible that consumers will then be able to drive such cars in one to two years.” The technology required for this already exists, and several manufacturers will be able to offer such systems as soon as they are permitted. Nevertheless, this advance can also be viewed critically. Current lane guidance assistants repeatedly produce errors that would not forgive even slightly delayed intervention by the driver. However, a car that is dedicated to autonomous operation is safer on the road than a current one whose driver is distracted, although he should be paying attention.
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