The German government has announced it has cleared the way in cabinet to draft autonomous driving laws which would see the country be the first in the world to regulate Level 4 autonomy.

Level 4 is considered to be fully autonomous driving, although a human driver can still request control, and the car still has controls, with the driver required to be fit to drive and capable of taking over control if needed.

Website TheDrive.io quotes the German ministry for transport and digital infrastructure, federal minister Andreas Scheuer saying, “Germany will be the first country in the world to bring autonomous vehicles from its research laboratories onto the road.”

The report adds that the next step is to draft the new laws to be presented to federal parliament and federal council for further discussion and that the German government aims to bring the laws into regular operation by 2022, meaning that within 12 months there could be driverless cars operating there.

(Picture – Olivier-Le-Moal/Yay Images)