DRIVE NOW August 2022

The National Transport Commission
(NTC) is developing a policy for the
on-road enforcement of automated
vehicles.
Automated vehicles – sometimes
known as autonomous vehicles
or “driverless cars” – offer the
possibility of fundamentally
changing transport and society by
improving road safety, mobility,
freight productivity and reducing
road congestion.
But current laws do not support
their use on public roads.
We need nationally-consistent
reforms that support innovation
and safety. This will allow
Australians to access the benefits
of this technology.
The NTC reform program focuses
on achieving national consistency.
Their goal is end-to-end regulation
to support the safe commercial
deployment and operation of
automated vehicles at all levels of
automation in Australia.
The NTC has completed a number
of reforms as part of the program
for end-to-end regulation to
support the safe commercial
deployment and operation of
automated vehicles in Australia,
including:
• Regulating government
access to C-ITS and automated
vehicle data to ensure privacy
challenges of government
access to C-ITS and automated
vehicle data are appropriately
addressed.
• Developing a safety assurance
system for automated
vehicles to support the safe,
commercial deployment
and operation of automated
vehicles at all levels of
automation.
• Changing driving laws to
support automated vehicles
to determine how automated
vehicles and automated
driving systems (ADS) should
be treated by the law.
Currently, the focus of the NTC
is on enforcement officers’ onroad
interaction with automated
vehicles, including:
• safety intervening and
interacting with automated
vehicles
• identifying an automated
vehicle, its level of automation
and who is in control
• accessing data to respond
to road safety risks (such as
for crash investigation and
reporting)
• sharing data with relevant
parties, particularly the inservice
regulator.
The NTC has published a discussion
paper that looks at the current
powers of law enforcement officers
in the context of automated
vehicles. The paper examines
if enforcement officers have
sufficient powers to interact with
and respond to the road safety
risks of automated vehicles.
The paper also covers practical
aspects of interacting with
automated vehicles and suggests
options to address any gaps.
NTC’s goal is to create consistent
policies across all states and
territories.
www.drivenow-magazine.com.au
August 2022
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