In the draft amending and supplementing a number of articles of 10 laws (being reviewed by the Ministry of Justice), the Ministry of Public Security proposed to amend and supplement a number of provisions of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety. Including content related to smart means of transportation.
In the draft, the Ministry of Public Security proposed to amend to a smart means of transport, which is a motor vehicle, allowing the complete automation (current law also includes partial automation) of control activities, determining routes and handling situations when participating in road traffic.
According to the Drafting Committee, motor vehicles that allow the automation of part of vehicle control, route determination and situation handling when participating in road traffic are vehicles of level 1, level 2, level 3 according to ISO/SAE past 22736:2021 standards.
Motor vehicles allow the automation of all vehicle control activities, determining routes and handling situations when participating in road traffic, which are vehicles of level 4, or level 5 classified and defined in ISO/SAE past 22736:2021 standard.
In fact, many mid-range and high-end cars imported, manufactured and assembled in Vietnam have the function of supporting drivers to reach level 1 and approach level 2 according to ISO/SAE past 22736:2021.
Therefore, according to the provisions of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety, these vehicles are classified as smart vehicles and must be licensed to operate according to regulations.
For motor vehicles of level 1, level 2, even level 3 (self-driving with conditions), it is basically just a function of supporting and assisting the driver in certain conditions, situations, and ranges, and cannot completely replace the driver.
Such as the function of automatically keeping lanes, keeping distance, emergency braking, warning or not allowing lane changes when a vehicle overtakes, automatic parking at a parking position...
These functions help drivers reduce stress and fatigue when driving long distances, keep a safe distance, detect risks early, react quickly to sudden dangerous situations... so they basically help increase the safety of the vehicle while traveling on the road.
Whether these functions can be enabled or not depends on the driver's decision. Through assessing the current status of road operations, this type of vehicle is suitable for operation under current traffic conditions in Vietnam.
Therefore, it is not necessary to limit and license the operation of these types of vehicles.
For motor vehicles of level 4 and level 5, currently only in China is the pilot operation of unmanned taxis in Wukong, some areas in Chongqing, Beijing, and Shanghai, but it is still in the stage of assessing safety and reliability, and has not been widely developed.
Some other developed countries such as the US and EU have only tested level 4 autonomous driving cars within a certain range and require a driver or supervisor on the vehicle.
According to current traffic conditions in Vietnam, fully automated motor vehicles are not suitable for operation and have a high risk of causing accidents.
The drafting committee believes that it is necessary to limit and grant operating licenses to these types of vehicles (including test- driven vehicles that are research and development subjects and need to participate in road traffic).
