Experimental legal regime for unmanned vehicles launched in 38 regions

The Russian government has launched an experimental legal regime (EPR) for the operation of unmanned cars and trucks in 38 regions of the country, the report says. message on the website of the Ministry of Economic Development.

“The experiment will be the largest in Russia and will make it possible to implement the technology of unmanned vehicles in various climatic and road conditions from the Crimea to the Khabarovsk Territory. 38 regions are already participating in it at the very beginning and it is planned to use various unmanned vehicles from several initiators,” said Deputy Minister of Economics Maxim Kolesnikov.

The department explained that the EPR was adopted after the appeal of Sberavtotekh, Gazpromneft-Snabzheniya, NPO Starline,Yandex.Tests” and “Baystrek Rus”. EPR takes into account all the necessary safety guarantees, verified in the implementation of existing experiments in the field of operation of unmanned vehicles, they added. The implementation of the EPR will prepare the basis for further general regulation of the industry in Russia, the Ministry of Economics concluded.

At the end of 2018, the government launched an experiment to test self-driving cars on public roads – they are allowed to drive in a number of territories in Moscow and Tatarstan, but only with a tester behind the wheel. Later, in 2020, the experiment was expanded to 11 regions. Participation in it is “Yandex”, “Kamaz”, MADI, KB “Aurora”, “Innopolis”, NPO “Starline”, etc.

At the end of November, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced launch of an experiment using unmanned vehicles also on the Moscow-St. Petersburg highway.