A bill on driverless cars submitted to the State Duma in mid-May may be passed through three readings by the end of the year. By the second reading, the document will be amended to include provisions on driverless trains.
The first reading of the bill may take place during the current spring session. The second and third readings will take place during the fall session, said Sergei Zhigaryov, bill author and Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, Industrial Production, Innovative Development and Entrepreneurship, answering a question from Invest Foresight at a RIA Novosti news conference.
Zhigaryov added that the bill will primarily regulate testing of driverless trucks, shuttles and taxis.
“However, Russian Railways sent a letter requesting that the bill be extended to include driverless railroad transport. I think the amendments will be made by the second reading and the bill will also apply to driverless trains.”
Andrei Neznamov, Head of the Research Center for Robot and Artificial Intelligence Regulation, added that there are driverless locomotive designs in Russia but there is no opportunity to test them.
“Regulations require locomotives to be managed by drivers,” the expert explained.
The bill on driverless cars was submitted to the State Duma on May 15. A number of experts have already called the document “questionable.” Blue Buckets movement coordinator Pyotr Shkumatov said that the bill does not establish accountability for killing pedestrians and drivers.