Cars could be driving themselves down the world’s streets far sooner than expected, thanks to a change in a global treaty.
A little-noticed amendment to the United Nations Convention on Road Traffic agreed last month will let drivers take their hands off the wheel of self-driving cars.
The change was pushed by Germany, Italy and France. High-end carmakers in those countries believe they are ready to outdo US tech pioneers and bring the first “autonomous vehicles” to the market.
"Today I am only allowed to take my hands off the wheel to a limited extent," said Head of Group Research at Daimler and Head of Development at Mercedes-Benz, Dr Thomas Weber.
"Thankfully the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic has been changed," he added.
For years so-called "autonomous vehicles" have been a futuristic dream pioneered by Silicon Valley companies like Google.
However, Europe’s luxury automakers say they are well-placed to take advantage of increasingly affordable technology, thanks to their experience in engineering, manufacturing, marketing and sales.
The US state of Nevada passed a law in June 2011 to allow test drives of autonomous vehicles there. Google tested one in 2012.
In August 2013, Mercedes-Benz responded to the Google push by developing an S-class limousine which drove between Mannheim and Pforzheim without any driver input.
The 103km German stretch is named after the driver of the first motorcar more than 125 years ago.
Moving from test drives to marketable products was, however, held back by Article 8 of the 1968 Convention on Road Traffic. It stipulates: "Every driver shall at all times be able to control his vehicle or to guide his animals."
The amendment agreed last month by the UN Working Party on Road Traffic Safety would allow a car to drive itself, as long as the system "can be overridden or switched off by the driver."
A driver must be present and able to take the wheel at any time.
Provided the amendment clears all bureaucratic hurdles, all 172 countries that are party to the convention would have to work the new rules into their laws.
The convention covers European countries, Mexico, Chile, Brazil and Russia. It does not, however, cover the United States, Japan or China.
The amendment was submitted by the governments of Germany, Italy, France, Belgium and Austria.
Germany’s premium carmakers in particular have business models that rely on leading the market in vehicles with the most sophisticated features available.
Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, as well as auto suppliers Bosch and Continental are working on technologies for autonomous or semi-autonomous cars.
