자율주행자동차 공도 주행 실현의 현대적 과제에 대한 시론(試論)

Consideration on Contemporary Tasks about the Realization of Autonomous Vehicles Public Road Driving - Focusing on the revision of the Road Traffic Act and driver s license regulations -

Autonomous Vehicles are one of the representative products of the 4th industrial revolution from which we can expect benefits such as the reduction of traffic accidents and the decrease of casualties and loosening of traffic congestion by that. It can be said that interest in and movement about the development and commercialization of Autonomous Vehicles are considerable globally. Autonomous Vehicles can be described as the ones that perceive surroundings and do things dynamically on their own through recognition, judgment, and control. Also, to realize the driving and operation of Autonomous Vehicles on public roads, basically, it is needed to examine and revise the Road Traffic Act that has been institutionalized to keep cars moving smoothly by preventing and eliminating all the dangerous and hindrance factors of traffic on roads. We cannot deny the fact that the safe and desirable commercialization of those cars will be never obtained without it. Therefore, it is necessary not only to reflect technological perspectives to the revision of the Road Traffic Act but also to understand Autonomous Vehicles from the standpoint of the Road Traffic Act. From the viewpoint of the Road Traffic Act, Autonomous Vehicles can be regarded as the cars that support driving, but it is somewhat different in the perspective of technology. We cannot say that operating capacity directly means driving ability. Accordingly, in the situation to develop Autonomous Vehicles, we carry out recognition based on the technological concept of Autonomous Vehicles. To realize the reflection of it diversely into legislation, however, it is needed to perform consideration more precisely. In other words, not only technological development but efforts and attempts have been made multilaterally to commercialize and generalize Autonomous Vehicles from which we can expect various advantages associated with the decrease of traffic accidents. Yet, what is related to autonomous driving is not just from today or yesterday but has been a part of technological advancement and development that have been done continuously from long before. To wit, the emergence of Autonomous Vehicles did not take place in a day along with the 4th industrial revolution, and it can also be considered as part of the acceptance of technological development. Moreover, it seems to be necessary to establish definite criteria or such regarding what should be the focus in the realization of Autonomous Vehicles. In other words, on which should we put the emphasis, the acceptance of developed and advanced technology or the enhancement of safety? In conclusion, basically, it is needed to consider and arouse opinions about two aspects; one is to advocate technology as much as possible immediately, and the other is to accept it stepwise through discussion and examination. Therefore, it is necessary to consider all those things generally and revise the law practically and realistically in order to realize the public road driving of Autonomous Vehicles.