Development of a Test Track for Driverless Cars: Vehicle Design, Track Configuration, and Liability Considerations

The Research Center for Autonomous Road Vehicles (RECAR) was founded in 2015 upon the initiative of the Faculty of Transportation Engineering and Vehicle Engineering of Budapest University of Technology and Economics. The research center is supported by industrial partners and other academic partners targeting research and educational purposes. In complement to this project, the construction of a new automotive test track is also under development especially for autonomous road vehicle testing serving as automotive proving ground in Zalaegerszeg, Hungary. Accordingly, an intensive research has been started in RECAR center in the field of autonomous vehicle technology. The paper’s goal is to share the main practical and methodological experiences with the scientific audience as well as the industrial sector. Based on the initial research actions we intend to enlighten the upcoming research challenges of driverless vehicles and automated intelligent transport system. Basically, three main topics are concerned. Firstly, the main issues concerning autonomous vehicle research are summarized. Secondly, the requirements for autonomous test track design are concluded. Thirdly, the legal questions that emerge with the appearance of driverless vehicles are investigated, especially concerning liability.

[1]  M. Sivak,et al.  A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF REAL-WORLD CRASHES INVOLVING SELF-DRIVING VEHICLES , 2015 .

[2]  K. Kockelman,et al.  Forecasting Americans' Long-Term Adoption of Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Technologies , 2016 .

[3]  Jeffrey K. Gurney.  Sue My Car Not Me: Products Liability and Accidents Involving Autonomous Vehicles , 2013 .

[4]  John D. Villasenor.  Products Liability and Driverless Cars: Issues and Guiding Principles for Legislation , 2014 .

[5]  M. Mitchell Waldrop,et al.  Autonomous vehicles: No drivers required , 2015, Nature.

[6]  F. V. Harper,et al.  The Duty to Control the Conduct of Another , 1934 .

[7]  Sophia Duffy,et al.  Sit, Stay, Drive: The Future of Autonomous Car Liability , 2013 .

[8]  Adam D. Thierer,et al.  Removing Roadblocks to Intelligent Vehicles and Driverless Cars , 2014 .

[9]  Gary E. Marchant,et al.  The Coming Collision Between Autonomous Vehicles and the Liability System , 2012 .

[10]  B. van Arem,et al.  Development of automated vehicles in the Netherlands: Scenarios for 2030 and 2050 , 2015 .

[11]  Daniel J. Fagnant,et al.  Preparing a Nation for Autonomous Vehicles: Opportunities, Barriers and Policy Recommendations , 2015 .

[12]  Kyle Colonna,et al.  Autonomous Cars and Tort Liability , 2012 .

[13]  Tamás Bécsi,et al.  Design of Lane Keeping Algorithm of Autonomous Vehicle , 2016 .

[14]  Ron Isaac.  Product Liability , 1977, International and Comparative Law Quarterly.

[15]  Frank A. Sloan,et al.  Tort liability versus other approaches for deterring careless driving , 1994 .