Starting next year, South Korean government will revise the traffic laws and driver's tests to accommodate for the rapidly advancing technology for automated driving systems and development of self-driving cars.
The National Police Agency on Wednesday rolled out the traffic safety plans in preparation for when self-driving cars will hit the road, in which they announced that traffic safety education related to automated driving systems will be included in the state-issued driver's license exams starting next year.
South Korea's driver's exam includes a driving course test, on-road driving test and a written exam, in which the driver's knowledge of operating a vehicle are tested. The new subject on autonomous driving will include the details related to when the vehicle's control should be shifted -- from manual to auto -- and about the driver's responsibility when operating such vehicles.
Authorities plan to introduce a limited license allowing owners to drive only the vehicles with a certain level of automated systems, by 2028.
The police's three-stage plan will align with how authorities expect the commercialization of autonomous driving vehicles will take place over the next few years. Autonomous driving is conventionally categorized into six categories defined by the US-based Society of Automotive Engineers, from level 0, no driving automation, to level 5, full driving automation.
In the initial phase from 2023 to 2025, the police's plans will cope with level 3 automated vehicles, conditional driving automation, moving onto phase two (2026-2027) which deals with level four -- high-driving automation -- buses and shuttles, and phase three (from 2028), by which authorities expect level four cars will hit the streets.
The government plans to enact a new law in order to deal with the various situations that can occur during the operation of self-driving cars, while specifying details such as legal liability.
Authorities plan to specify who is to be held responsible for safety and operation of self-driving cars by 2025, and to specify who should be liable for criminal punishment in case of traffic accidents caused by such vehicles by 2026.
The government seeks to complete a guideline on evaluating the safe driving features of autonomous cars by 2024, and standards to assess a self-driving car's capacity to abide by road traffic laws by 2027.
Regulations on fines and other penalties will be applied to the law by 2025, along with restrictions for automated driving systems by 2027, and on how such cars should be controlled in case of emergencies by 2028.
Korea is currently operating pilot runs of autonomous buses and shuttles. Last week, Seoul Metropolitan Government launched autonomous overnight buses on a few routes across the eastern and western part of the city, and Gwangju has self-driving shuttles at the Army headquarters in Gyeryong, South Chungcheong Province.
