Opening up NSW roads to driverless cars is likely to be held back in the same way as different track gauges for states stymied the railway industry more than a century ago unless a national approach is taken to the new technology, an inquiry has found.
The national regulation of autonomous vehicles will maximise the road safety benefits of the technology while minimising the risks, a report by a joint NSW standing committee on road safety concluded.
Driverless technology in Australia is developing rapidly and, unless a national approach is taken, the committee warned the country runs a major risk of fragmentation due to each state taking its own approach.
"Just as state-based railway gauges in the 19th century held back interstate travel and trade, and national economic development, state-based regulatory frameworks have the potential to foster incompatible technology and regulatory development," the committee said in its report.
With semi-autonomous vehicles already on the roads, the committee warned that NSW was entering a transition stage where a mixed vehicle fleet had to be managed.
"Perhaps the single most important thing we can do is to be prepared," it said.
"As levels of automation increase, the capacity of our current regulations to govern vehicles with greater autonomy will be tested."
Late last year in Adelaide, Volvo conducted the first test of an autonomous vehicle in the southern hemisphere. Several months later, South Australia passed laws allowing on-road trials of driverless vehicles.
The committee recommended a national trialling regime for autonomous vehicles, as well as country-wide safety and performance standards.
In the meantime, it wants the NSW government to outline the conditions for trials of automated vehicles on the state's roads, or adopt a code of practice.
One of the biggest safety benefits from driverless cars is an expected reduction in injuries and deaths on roads by removing human control. It is estimated that about 90 per cent of road crashes are caused by human error.
However, driverless vehicles present their own risks in that data can be hacked, while the technology might be unable to detect roadside barriers, pedestrians or wildlife.
The committee said there was also a risk of motorists "placing excessive trust in [autonomous vehicles] before it is warranted".
The report comes ahead of the release in November of the National Transport Commission's recommendations on regulatory barriers to autonomous vehicles.
