That’s the finding of a new report by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) that says EU rules on safety approvals for new cars will need to be revised for such vehicles.

In the short term, the ETSC is calling on the EU to require mandatory installation of effective and proven driver assistance systems including Automated Emergency Braking and overridable Intelligent Speed Assistance in all new cars, and to develop a new EU framework for approving future automated technologies as well as fully autonomous vehicles.

As well as safety approval rules for new cars, the report says EU driving licence regulations will need to be updated to reflect the need for drivers to learn how to safely take back command from automated driving systems. EU rules on road infrastructure safety should also be revised to include requirements for automated and semi-automated vehicles such as clear road markings.

The ETSC also commented that “carmakers must apply full openness and transparency in disclosing collision data for automated vehicles in order that the information can be used to help prevent future collisions”.   

Antonio Avenoso, executive director of the European Transport Safety Council, said: “Automated vehicles are already starting to appear on Europe’s roads, but regulators are still stuck in the slow lane. It is crucial that we get a much greater understanding of what the real world safety benefits would be, and what new risks would be introduced before these vehicles are put on sale.”