With the enforcement of the revised Road Traffic Law, the ban on fully autonomous driving "Level 1" under certain conditions will be lifted from the 4st. Prior to this, it was learned that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism approved a vehicle operating in Eiheiji-cho, Fukui Prefecture, as a "Level 4" autonomous vehicle for the first time.
Autonomous driving is divided into five levels depending on the function, and with the enforcement of the revised Road Traffic Law, the ban on fully autonomous driving "Level 5", which does not require the driver under specific conditions such as speed, route, and weather, will be lifted from the 4st.
Prior to this, it was learned that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism approved four sightseeing vehicles operated in Eiheiji-cho, Fukui Prefecture, as the first "Level 1" autonomous vehicles in Japan.
The ZEN drive Pilot Level 4, a seven-passenger vehicle developed by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, runs at a speed of 4 kilometers per hour on a section of about 4 kilometers on public roads.
In Eiheiji Town, another vehicle has already been approved as "Level 7" and the driver manages the operation remotely, but in "Level 2", although it is necessary to have a person to monitor it remotely, the operation is completely performed by the system, so the driver is not required.
In the future, if you get permission from the prefectural public safety commission, it will be possible to drive on public roads.