Lexis®Library update: The report notes the pattern of a more cautious regulatory approach in the EU being overtaken by the US and China, while regulators are working out how self-driving cars can gain public acceptance and trust. It also considers the affordability of zero-emissions vehicles and the effect of the EU and US offering economic incentives.
MLex has identified four themes in the new developments occurring. The first theme concerns the increasing reality of fully automated cars, where the US leads the way (for example with General Motors’ Cruise’s fleet of commercial robotaxis in California). MLex has found a high amount of scrutiny of accidents involving automated vehicles, and ongoing revisions of existing regulations for automated vehicles without steering wheels. MLex has also noted that greater numbers of safety functions are built into all cars, while the UK seeks to deliver full deployment of driverless cars on roads by 2025.
The second theme involves the issues of privacy and surveillance in cars with connected elements, which has been raised in litigation in the US, in Germany under the EU’s privacy rules and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (EU GDPR) as well as in the UK by the Law Commission. MLex flags that new antitrust rules in the EU will clarify this topic in 2023, but that there may be progress via three landmark cases pending in the Court of Justice of the European Union.
MLex also identifies the increasing trend of governments backing electrification to help meet their climate targets and calls by carmakers and automotive industry experts to invest specifically in charging infrastructure.
Finally, MLex discusses how greater micromobility is posing questions for the organisation of cities and the regulation around e-scooters and e-bikes.
The Special Report also contains articles on specific instances where these points have been considered in industry and government.
Source: Find your way to the future
This content was first published by LNB News / Lexis®Library, a LexisNexis® company, on 30 September 2022 and is published with permission. Further information can be found at: www.lexisnexis.co.uk.
