Intelligent driving 'sprint' needs to build a strong legal fence
2025-05-07
The rapid development of intelligent technology in automobiles is quietly changing people's ways of transportation, from assisted driving to voice control, from automatic parking to connected vehicles. Smart cars, equipped with high-precision sensors, advanced control devices, and intelligent decision-making systems, bring people unprecedented convenient and comfortable driving experiences. However, with more and more intelligent vehicles on the road, a series of technological risks and traffic hazards are gradually emerging, such as frequent failures of intelligent driving technology, insufficient safety measures, and erosion of vehicle management rights. The recent multiple accidents have highlighted the systemic risks in the development of intelligent automotive technology, which not only affect users' normal use but also pose a threat to public safety and personal rights. The main concerns about the development of automotive intelligence are: what stage has the commercial application of automotive intelligence technology entered? Is the human-computer interaction system smooth and safe enough? Have traffic management and regulatory measures been adequately prepared for the complex issue of intelligent vehicles and traditional vehicles operating together in the same transportation space and time? Does the traffic management system already have scientifically effective corresponding measures? According to the "Classification of Automotive Driving Automation" standard, currently mass-produced intelligent vehicles in China only reach L2 level assisted driving, and the driver is still the main responsible party. However, excessive advertising by some car companies can easily lead consumers to mistakenly believe that their vehicles already have autonomous driving capabilities. This cognitive bias leads consumers to engage in dangerous behaviors such as "taking off their hands and eyes" while driving intelligent cars. Even in order to avoid the monitoring system set up by intelligent cars, so-called "smart driving tools" are used to keep hands away from the steering wheel for a long time without triggering car warnings through weight rings or straps. Therefore, "smart driving" in advertising is not legally defined as autonomous driving, but still belongs to assisted driving. Assisted driving mainly focuses on providing operational assistance to drivers and cannot completely replace them. And autonomous driving is the ultimate goal, which is for vehicles to be able to complete driving tasks completely autonomously, replacing human drivers. According to the current Road Traffic Safety Law and its implementation regulations, motor vehicle drivers are always responsible for the safety of vehicle operation. When using assisted driving functions, "taking off hands and eyes" is an illegal act that hinders safe driving and can be fined and scored according to law; If this causes a traffic accident resulting in casualties, it may also constitute the crime of traffic accident and be held criminally responsible. As cars gradually enter the stage of intelligence, human-machine interaction systems need to go through more tests. It not only tests the reliability of intelligent technology, but also requires improving autonomous decision-making ability in the face of complex road conditions; It also tests consumers' correct consumption awareness and good driving habits. There are still technical shortcomings in sensor accuracy, algorithm decision-making, and other aspects of current automotive intelligence technology. For example, in scenarios such as irregular intersections, large curvature curves, and dense traffic flow, the perception and computing capabilities of intelligent systems may have certain deficiencies. The work stability in adverse weather conditions such as rain, snow, haze, strong light, etc. urgently needs to be strengthened. In human-computer interaction systems, there is still a lack of clear functional permission setting interfaces for the management permission boundaries of vehicles, and there are fuzzy areas for the triggering conditions and restriction ranges of various functions of the car. Consumers are prone to misunderstandings about the timing, scope, degree, and procedures of takeover. Therefore, the level of technological popularization and consumer education must match. Product producers and designers should provide more safety redundancy to protect consumers' reckless behavior. Regulators should strengthen market publicity supervision and avoid biased public opinion leading to consumer misjudgment. In the field related to the safety of people's lives, it is not allowed for intelligent automobile production to adopt the thinking of "rapid iteration, online first and then improvement". Regulators should promptly formulate technical standards and testing specifications to guide the orderly development of the industry. In order to promote the development of intelligent automotive technology and ensure the commercial application of intelligent vehicles, various government departments have made a lot of strategic planning and institutional adjustments. China has already established a blueprint for the development of the autonomous driving industry at the strategic level. The "Intelligent Vehicle Innovation and Development Strategy" proposes to basically form the Chinese standard intelligent vehicle regulatory standard system by 2025, and looks forward to the comprehensive construction of the intelligent vehicle system from 2035 to 2050. In the industry standards, there are already multiple national standards, industry standards, and group standards for automotive intelligence technology, providing a basis for technological development and responsibility recognition. However, the current laws and regulations on intelligent vehicles are not yet perfect, and it is necessary to accelerate the legislative process, unify legislation at the national level, clarify the management rules for the entire process of intelligent vehicle research and development, production, sales, use, management, emergency response, and accident relief, as well as the rights, obligations, and legal responsibilities of relevant participants in intelligent vehicles. The commercial application of intelligent automotive technology involves departments such as industry and information technology, transportation, public security, market supervision, and internet information technology. Each department is working together to regulate and clarify corresponding regulatory measures. For example, in different stages of intelligent vehicles, corresponding admission and testing management measures, traffic operation supervision, data security and privacy protection, accident liability determination and other management measures are set up. Of course, the coordination between various departments is not sufficient at present, and there is still a phenomenon of inconsistent effective policy standards, which restricts the effective play of regulatory efficiency. The regulatory authorities are actively building an intelligent vehicle safety monitoring platform to monitor the real-time operation status, software system updates, and network security status of intelligent vehicles. We plan to use big data analysis and risk warning to promptly identify and address potential security risks and issues. The improvement of intelligent driving vehicle regulation is not achieved overnight, but a continuous iterative process. Not long ago, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology put forward new requirements for the admission and online software upgrade management of intelligent connected vehicle products, pressing the "accelerator button" to improve the supervision of intelligent driving vehicles. The rapid development of intelligent driving requires a strong legal fence. Under the new regulatory framework, the intelligent driving automotive industry will bid farewell to its wild growth and enter a new stage of standardized and orderly development. This will not only help to enhance public trust in intelligent driving technology, but also promote China's intelligent connected vehicle industry to occupy a more advantageous position in global competition, leading the future transformation of transportation. (New Press) (The author is a professor at the School of Law, Beijing Jiaotong University, and a professor at the Beijing Institute of Comprehensive Transportation Development, Beijing Jiaotong University)
Edit:Lin Bodan Responsible editor:Li Yi
Source:www.legaldaily.com.cn
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