Austria

Legislative basis for CCAM testing

Legal basis for testing:

Automatisiertes Fahren Verordnung  (Legally non-binding version in English)

Contact information:

National Contact Point Automated Mobility at AustriaTech (not the responsible authority for issuing the test permission)

phone: +43 1 2633 44 – 16 / +43 1 2633 44 – 46

mail: automatisierung@austriatech.at

The Austrian government defines its procedure to obtain the testing permit in the Automatisiertes Fahren Verordnung document developed by BMK (Federal ministry for climate action, environment, energy, mobility, innovation and technology). This regulation sets the standard procedure and safety requirements for open road tests of fully automated driving vehicles.

It defines the following test use cases:

1. Automated minibus
   • Automated vehicle for passenger transport
   • Automated vehicle for the transport of goods

1. Motorway pilot with automated lane change
   • Motorway pilot with automated driving on motorway on- and off-ramps and exits

1. Autonomous military vehicle
   • Automated valet parking
   • Automated working machine

Furthermore, it defines two applications for systems in series production:

• Parking assistant
• Motorway assistant with automatic lane keeping

It also defines which data need to be supplied to the BMK, for gaining a test certificate:

• Details of the planned use case
• Name of the testing facility
• Contact person and contact details
• Details of the driver of the vehicle to be used for the test drives
• Registration number of the vehicle to be used for the test drives
• Written confirmation by the vehicle insurer that insurance cover according to the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Liability Insurance Act 1994 to the extent applied for is in place for test drives
• Total real, virtual and experimental test kilometres driven to date using the system to be tested
• Start and end of the planned test period
• Planned test route or test area
• Infrastructure requirements
• Evidence of route analysis, risk assessment and risk management.

Furthermore, some supportive documents are provided (see “Supportive documents” section)

Application Requirements

The application form is in digital format and is contained in the page of AustriaTech. In English or in German.

The application procedure is also defined in the AustriaTech’s webpage, with a version in English and other one in German. It defines the following requirements:

Entities allowed to apply to the exemption:

• Use case 1 (defined above): Vehicle manufacturers, system developers, research institutions, transport companies and operators of bus routes.
  • Use case 1a: Vehicle manufacturers, system developers, research institutions, transport companies and operators of bus routes.
  • Use case 1b: Vehicle manufacturers, system developers, research institutions and goods carriage companies.

• Use case 2: Vehicle manufacturers, system developers and research institutions.
  • Use case 1a: Vehicle manufacturers, system developers and research institutions.

• Use case 3: Only by the Federal Ministry of Defence
  • Use case 3a: Vehicle manufacturers, system developers, research institutions, transport companies and operators of multistorey car parks and car parks.
  • Use case 3b: Vehicle manufacturers, road maintenance organisations, system developers and research institutions.

List of requirements:

• Completed application form.
• Insurance for vehicle.
• Registration of the vehicle.
• Description of the modifications to the test vehicle (if based on type-approved vehicle).
• Description of the automated driving function, which is intended to be tested.
• Confirmation of / information to road operator.
• Conducted risk assessment/ analysis. (risk analysis for the whole test project is required and additionally a route assessment and risk analysis for the applied test track)
• Information to state governor.
• The systems must have previously undergone sufficient simulated testing and testing on Consolidated Federal Law www.ris.bka.gv.at.
• If test drives are conducted on motorways or expressways: informing the responsible road maintenance authorities and including them in the planning of the test project.

List of the required documents:

• Practice
• AutomatFahrV
• Application form
• Description of procedure test request (application procedure)
• Risk analysis / assessment:
  • Considering the road sections on which tests will be performed. (Template not mandatory to be used)
  • Considering the whole test procedure. (Not defined template).
• Reporting on testing

Responsible for the safety validation:

Applicant (by means of self-assessment)

Average handling time for the process:

Approximately 2-6 months, but depends on the circumstances and if the proposed use case is still covered by the existing legislation.

Application fee: Free.

Is a test permit issued by another country accepted?: No.

 

Conditions for Testing

Vehicle categories: Cars, Trucks, Buses, Shuttles, Small urban goods delivery vehicle robots. (Any automated working machine).

SAE levels: No limitations.

ADAS / AD systems: There is no list of limited ADAS / AD systems. The contact point and the BMK verify for each test project / application if one of the use cases in the AutomatFahrV is applicable.

Use-Cases: See test use cases defined above, state of the art probably no exclusions of CCAM use cases, but might change in the future with new developments.

Geographical areas: No limitations.

Permit validity: Specified for each test application.

Other conditions:

• Speed limit – different for each use case defined within the AutomatFahrV.
• Vehicle category to be used – different for each use case defined within the AutomatFahrV.
• For each use case defined within the AutomatFahrV:
  • Emergency device must be present with which the system can be deactivated. If a critical situation arises, the driver must operate the emergency device immediately.
  • The systems must have previously undergone sufficient simulated testing and testing on private proving ground in comparable situations and in varying conditions and been found to be safe.

Driver Requirements

Safety driver: Required. It needs to take the place intended for him as specified for each use-case (mostly the driver’s seat).

Remote operation with no safety driver inside or in sight of the vehicle: Not allowed.

 

Data Requirements

Black box needed: No.

Obligation to report to authority during/after CCAM tests: Yes, testing report must be submitted within 1 month after the end of the reporting. The reporting period is every 6 months within the approved testing period.

Testing organisation needs to fill in report submit it to the Contact Point who evaluates it and forwards to the BMK for evaluation. The report consists of 2 parts:

• Part 1: A table providing basic data and quantitative results.
• Part 2: Text providing a qualitative description of results.

Test reports availability to the public: There is a separation between public data being available for public and sensitive date which will not be submitted to third parties (Link).

Obligation to report to authority in case of accident: Yes, obligation to inform the BMK and Contact Point immediately as soon as the situation allows.

Any other supervision / monitoring performed by the authority: No.

National database for storing reports provided: No.

Requirements on data recording: Every test vehicle must be equipped with an accident data recorder. Only data from the test vehicle’s electronic steering equipment may be recorded using the accident data recorder. It must not be possible to modify this data. Specific data to be recorded continuously during the tests is defined in the legislative basis document.

Requirements on disclosing data during/after tests: Yes, see test report.

Data exchange mechanism specified: No.

Test vehicle needs to be connected and / or cooperative during test: No.

 

Infrastructure

Testing facilities on public roads:

• Digitrans
• Lab

Testing facilities on private areas:

• Digitrans
• Lab

 

Cross-border CCAM Testing

There is not any cross-border acceptance of permissions in Austria apart from the cross-border cooperation between Austria-Hungary and Slovenia (test regime, data management, HMI), bilateral and trilateral cooperation with Germany and Switzerland focussing on CCAM-traffic management and digital twin.

 

Supportive Documents

• Application form, in English or in German.
• Application procedure, in English or in German.
• Code of Practice
• Description of application and testing procedure
• Template for route analysis and risk assessment
• Practice
• Route analysis and risk assessment
• Test report.