Level 4 Driverless Cars Must Meet 15,000km Testing Requirement and Include Emergency Stop Buttons

Starting now, driverless autonomous vehicles operating in South Korea must have a minimum of 15,000 kilometers of proven testing experience.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it has established guidelines containing safety operation requirements for driverless autonomous vehicles and will distribute them through the Korea Transportation Safety Authority website.
These guidelines were proactively established to allow companies to obtain temporary operation permits for driverless autonomous vehicles and safely develop Level 4 autonomous driving technology, even before relevant international standards are institutionalized domestically.
Level 4 autonomous driving technology refers to fully autonomous driving that does not require a driver and allows the system to respond even in emergencies.
The guidelines present "at least 15,000 kilometers of demonstration driving" as a mandatory requirement for the minimum driving experience needed to operate a driverless autonomous vehicle.
However, to ease the burden on developing companies, the guidelines allow for the combined mileage of up to five vehicles that use the same autonomous driving system and specifications, provided each has driven at least 3,000 kilometers.
This means that instead of a single vehicle having to drive the full 15,000 kilometers, the requirement can be met by adding up the mileage of five vehicles that have each driven 3,000 kilometers.
Furthermore, the guidelines mandate that vehicles be equipped with devices for real-time monitoring of driving and traffic conditions, as well as two-way communication between a remote control center and the vehicle, to enable responses such as remote emergency stops in the event of accidents or other emergencies.
In addition, the guidelines require that vehicles be equipped with features such as an emergency stop button that allows passengers to stop the vehicle at any time, an emergency braking system that operates independently of the main system, and a response mechanism to move the vehicle to a safe zone in an emergency.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.