Under review
The Road AheadADAS, ALKS, and DCAS on roads in the United Kingdom.
The full title is The Road Ahead: Assessing the Impact of ADAS, ALKS, and DCAS on Traffic Safety. It looks at UNECE rules, and how they affect driver-assistance features on more technologically advanced vehicles in the United Kingdom.
The subject
The report covers ADAS, ALKS, and the planned DCAS regulations from the UNECE: the safety, the dangers, and the limits of those rules on roads in the United Kingdom.
Test vehicles are used to gather data and to try certain driving-assistance and active safety features. Those vehicles are type-approved, and the features are regulated under UNECE Regulation 79.
The question underneath is whether these systems could help reduce the number of people killed on the roads if driver-assistance features were allowed more control than the current ECE limits permit.
The test vehicles
The ADAS testing uses Tesla Model 3s. Tesla was chosen because its software can be changed over the air, which is also why it had to limit Autopilot when the rules required it. Other manufacturers were considered. Most of them could not roll out an update that changed how the car drives.
In 2019, new European Tesla Model 3s were delivered without Autopilot activated, after Autopilot was found in breach of ECE Regulation 79. In update 2019.16, Model S and Model X cars were updated to limit Autopilot in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Monaco, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
Those countries are bound by ECE Regulation 79, which sets type-approval standards for steering equipment, including driving assistance. Tesla limited the steering angle at which Autopilot can engage, reflecting section 5.6.4.4, which caps the lateral acceleration of a Level-2 system at 3 metres per second squared. Auto Lane Change had to finish a lane change within five seconds of starting, in line with the Category C requirements for M1 vehicles in section 5.6.4.6.5. Section 5.6.1.2.7 limits a remote-controlled parking system to 6 metres, which is why Summon only works when the phone is connected by Bluetooth. The vehicle itself may move up to 20 metres.
Autopilot is among the most advanced driver-assistance systems on UK roads, which made it a useful vehicle for this work.
Timeline
Progress depends on the regulator, the data, and what the report is actually about.
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Report planning started
Planning began for a report on UNECE Regulation 79.
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Requested information from the regulatory entity
We asked the regulatory entity for information on UNECE Regulation 79.
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Requested information from a vehicle manufacturer
We asked an undisclosed vehicle manufacturer’s UK entity about its regulatory limitations.
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Heard back from the manufacturer
We received a reply to that request.
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Heard back from the regulatory entity
We received a reply to the request sent in October.
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Provisional reporting started
Provisional testing for the report began.
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Provisional reporting completed
Provisional testing finished.
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Initial request created
An initial request sets out what we need in order to complete a report. It is usually sent to the local government or authority.
Initial request (PDF) -
Initial request sent to the regulatory entity
The request was made to the local regulatory entity responsible for the subject.
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The regulator asked for more information
The local regulatory entity asked for further information.
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Initial request delivered
The initial request document was delivered to that regulatory entity.
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Further questions to a vehicle manufacturer
We asked an undisclosed vehicle manufacturer’s UK entity for more information about its ADAS system.
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Followed up with the regulator
We followed up after delivering the initial request.
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Meeting with the regulatory entity
We met the local regulatory entity about the report.
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Reporting and testing continued
Testing and reporting carried on from here.
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Testing completed
The testing for this report was finished. The report was then compiled to send to the regulatory entity.
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Report completed
The report was completed, ready to send to the regulatory entity.
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With the regulator for review
The report is being reviewed. This page will be updated when there is a decision on whether it will be released to the public.
While a report is active we share the documents we can: correspondence, requests, and updates. The full report stays unpublished until the regulatory entity has finished its review.