Germany wants to make black boxes mandatory in autonomous vehicles

The German government wants to introduce regulations that will oblige car manufacturers to provide autonomous and partially autonomous cars with a black box. The black box should keep track of when the autopilot was active and when the driver was driving.

The system must also keep track of when the system gave the driver a signal that he should take over control from the self-driving function. Sensors installed especially for that purpose must keep track of events. This is apparent from a proposal from the Minister of Transport, Alexander Dobrindt, writes Reuters news agency.

It is difficult to make a legal framework for automated driving, according to parliament spokesman Ulrich Lange in Handelsblatt. But he says there can be no more waiting, otherwise “US companies set the standard on German highways” and the German car industry could lose it.

Group chairman Nadine Schön says in the Handelsblatt that it is good if Germany ensures that it makes the ‘most innovative traffic laws in the world’ and that the German car industry should not lag behind in the growth market of autonomously driving cars.

Recently, a semi-autonomous driving Tesla S was involved in an accident in which the driver died. The accident has put pressure on the auto industry to make self-driving cars safer and requires new regulations.