Autonomous vehicles won’t be making their way onto China’s highways, at least not in the immediate future, as the country’s automotive industry regulatory have placed a moratorium on highway testing of the vehicles.
Police are working with Industry and Information Technology to formulate rules governing the testing of autonomous cars, warning automotive manufacturers that they shouldn’t be testing the self-driving vehicles on highways until regulations are developed, according to Bloomberg.
Preliminary rules have been drafted, according to She Weizhen, head of the ministry’s autos department, but no time frame was given as to when they will be finalized. Bloomberg goes on to point out that in China, the urge for autonomous vehicles is part of a broader state initiative for manufacturers to upgrade their technology as lower-cost countries emerge and compete for labor-intensive factory jobs. Additionally, the article notes increased scrutiny on the technology after the U.S. began investigating a fatal accident involving a Model S sedan driver using Tesla Motors Inc.’s Autopilot system in May.
This past June, I attended ROBOTICA 2016, which was put on by the New England Chapter of the Association of Unmanned Vehicles International (AUVSI). During one of the sessions, which was called “Intelligent and automated vehicles: "My Driver, My Robot,” a number of industry experts sat in on a panel, discussing autonomous vehicles. At one point, moderator Paul Schmitt, Director, Automated Vehicles, MassRobotics, asked the panel about where, when, and in what form would the first autonomous vehicle be out and available to the public, and not just in testing.
It is interesting to note that one of the speakers mentioned China as a possible location. With news of testing on highways halted, it would be difficult for this to come true at this point. What still may be relevant, though, is a prediction from two of the panel speakers, which was that autonomous vehicles will first become publicly available in Singapore, and not China or the U.S. As this technology is still in its infancy stage, it will be interesting to see what happens next.
View the Bloomberg article.
Pictured: Google self-driving car
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