China draws up safety rules for autonomous vehicles

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BEIJING: China has drawn up new safety rules for the growing number of autonomous vehicles on its roads, including a mandatory deactivation override, the government said Tuesday (Aug 4).

The standards taking effect Jul 1, 2027, will cover autonomous vehicles that require a human back-up driver, as well as independently operating vehicles such as the robotaxis made by US manufacturer Waymo.

Under the new rules, manufacturers will have to ensure autonomous systems can match the safety of human drivers, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a statement.

Buyers will also have to be informed of any limitations in autonomous systems.

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The rules standardise interactions between humans and machines to "prevent risks of misuse or abuse", the ministry said.

They will require that autonomous vehicles feature safe procedures to activate and deactivate automated driving, it said.

For cars with a human back-up driver, the autonomous system must monitor their readiness to take over.

Safety concerns and the cost of developing next-level systems have complicated progress in the introduction of autonomous vehicles.

Beijing warned leading automakers that safety rules would be more tightly enforced after a fatal crash in 2025 involving a Xiaomi car in assisted driving mode.

The new rules follow a UN agency's adoption in June of the first global regulations for fully autonomous vehicles, which China backed.

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