Driverless Cars Being Considered in Parliamentary Inquiry

Tuesday 20 June 2017 @ 11.10 a.m. | Crime | Legal Research

The Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Resources is currently running an inquiry into driverless vehicles in Australia, focusing on issues surrounding social acceptance, safety of passengers and other road users, and liability issues. The Federal Government invested 12 million in a two year long programme to test advancements in GPS technology for driverless cars, known as the Satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS). In Victoria, Transurban and VicRoads are also currently testing how vehicles with limited self-driving capacity react and adapt to Victorian roads.

Background

There have been a few attempts to legislate relating to driverless vehicles, but this current inquiry is the biggest attempt to consider a variety of legal and social issues. In 2016, the South Australian Parliament became the first Australian jurisdiction to assent to the Motor Vehicles (Trials of Automotive Technologies) Amendment Bill 2015, which amended the Motor Vehicles Act 1959(SA).  The ACT has also previously made an attempt to legislate in this area with the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) (Autonomous Vehicle Trials) Amendment Bill 2016 but the Bill was negatived in Parliament.

Areas of Focus of Inquiry

The Committee has framed its focus areas as the following:

  • safety concerns;
  • security and privacy requirements of automated technology;
  • legal regulation;
  • impact on employment; and
  • accessibility for rural demographics, people with special needs and the ageing population. 

The Committee has been hearing submissions from key stakeholders such as the Australasian College of Road Safety, Department of Industry, Innovation and Science and ARC Robotic Futures Research Team.

Benefits of Automated Vehicles

Driverless cars have the potential to increase road safety more so than human drivers, and are also more environmentally friendly compared to most vehicles.  They have the potential to improve economic efficiency by reducing the time taken to commute to workplaces, increasing their popularity with time-poor professionals. Furthermore, there are huge benefits for  people with special needs and the elderly who may have trouble with driving their own vehicle or using public transport.  MP Michelle Landry has noted:

‘It is time to consider not just the technological developments but importantly the social issues that will impact all Australians in the near future. Driverless vehicles have the potential to significantly improve road safety, environment outcomes, and productivity of the economy while also assisting people with mobility issues.’

Legal Issues

There are still issues to be considered surrounding the regulation of driverless cars, the liable party in the event of an accident, ownership of the vehicle and the impact on employment in the transport industry. A submission from Maurice Blackburn Lawyers postulated that legislative change should be considered to expand the meaning of driving, which is currently defined as a positive action by a legal person, to include automated driving systems. As an example, the Transport Accident Act 1986 (Vic) s 391 defines a transport accident as ‘an incident directly caused by the driving of a motor car or motor vehicle, a railway train or a tram.’ This shows that the definition of driving may need to be expanded to include software-driven cars as they currently do not fall in this definition of transport accident. 

Regarding ownership, a submission from Monash University highlighted that if vehicles are driven by software, the manufacturer of that software may become the driver of the vehicle for legal responsibility, ownership and insurance purposes.

There is also the potential for disruption to employment within the motor and transport industry. On this topic, MP Landry said:

‘The Committee is interested to hear how driverless vehicles could shape Australia’s use of public and private transport. The employment consequences are also important, and both the Bus Industry Confederation and Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries have contributions to make on that topic.’

The next hearing is scheduled for 21 June 2017. 

TimeBase is an independent, privately owned Australian legal publisher specialising in the online delivery of accurate, comprehensive and innovative legislation research tools including LawOne and unique Point-in-Time Products. Nothing on this website should be construed as legal advice and does not substitute for the advice of competent legal counsel.

Sources:

Transport Accident Act 1986 (VIC), as reproduced in TimeBase LawOne.

Motor Vehicles Act 1959 (SA), pt 4A, as reproduced in TimeBase LawOne.

Jane Cowan. 'Driverless cars: Everything you need to know about the transport revolution.' 11 March 2017. ABC News.

Charles Pauka. 'Public hearings on driverless vehicles intensify.' 1 March 2017. Transport Logistics and News.

Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Resources, ‘Inquiry into the Social Issues Relating to Land-Based Driverless Vehicles in Australia,’ March 2017 – present.

Maurice Blackburn Lawyers (Submission), ‘Inquiry into the Social Issues Relating to Land-Based driverless Vehicles in Australia,’ 1 March 2017 – Present.

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