Ireland

Testing Infrastructure

Although in 2019 it was approved by the government the testing of automated vehicles on Irish roads, it has not been yet physically implemented the possibility of testing these vehicles on the streets.

Government is reviewing the actual legislation to identify the areas in the Road Traffic Acts which would need to be amended, and those who need to be changed to allow the AV testing.

At the moment it has only be changed the definition of driving, including the possibility of permitting autonomous driving if it is behind the wheel a driver monitoring at all the time the AV operation, legally responsible of the acts of the vehicle.

Actually, there is only one private testing area for autonomous driving operating in Ireland: Jaguar – Land Rover. But on public roads, it still not having any physical infrastructure for testing those vehicles.

Procedure Description

The government is considering procedures. The only government declaration about requirements for AV testing on public roads are the necessity of:

  • Obeying all relevant road traffic laws
  • Creating a safety plan setting out the safety assurance and risk management strategies in place for each testing

Organisation(s) in Charge

The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport is the lead department but a number of other agencies are involved.

Contact Information

The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

Link to Procedure Website

Not available.

Link to Documents

https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/committee/dail/33/joint_committee_on_transport_and_communications/submissions/2021/2021-06-30_opening-statement-eamon-ryan-td-minister-for-transport_en.pdf

https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/search/?q=%22Autonomous%20vehicle%22&sort=date

https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2019-03-05/446/

Further Comments

It is gaining importance and recently the Prime Minister’s office (Department of Taoiseach have pushed for action).

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