Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to Establish and Announce 'Autonomous Vehicle Ethics Guidelines' Within the Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Inho Yoo] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 13th that it plans to promulgate the ethical guidelines for autonomous vehicles within this year.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport intends to expedite the establishment of ethical guidelines along with the enforcement of safety standards for Level 3 autonomous vehicles, which are expected to be launched domestically as early as 2021.

In this regard, on the 14th, the Ministry will hold a public forum on the ethical guidelines for autonomous vehicles, jointly prepared by the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, at the Korea Press Foundation.

The Ministry has been developing related systems such as safety standards for Level 3 autonomous vehicles through research on safety evaluation technologies for control transfer of autonomous vehicles and social acceptance studies.

As part of this research, the Ministry began preparing ethical guidelines in 2017 to prepare for the commercialization and technological advancement of autonomous vehicles, and after releasing a draft last year and collecting expert advice and opinions, it has now finalized the proposed guidelines.

The ethical guidelines serve as fundamental norms to ensure that future commercialized autonomous vehicles are manufactured and operated according to the ethical standards established in our society, containing recommendations for autonomous vehicle manufacturers, users, and others involved.

Since autonomous vehicles must respond to driving situations based on their own judgment, it is important to design them to make ethical decisions. The main contents of the ethical guidelines (draft) to be introduced at this forum are as follows.

▲ Autonomous vehicles should be designed to prevent accidents as much as possible, but if accident avoidance is impossible, they should minimize human casualties. ▲ In the event of an accident, loss of life and property should be minimized, with human life prioritized over property. ▲ Autonomous vehicles should operate with safety in mind while respecting the freedom and rights of others. ▲ Autonomous vehicles should operate considering the protection of vulnerable road users, among others.

Additionally, the guidelines include provisions for recording driving information and sharing it when necessary to prepare for accidents, ensuring production and management that protect personal privacy and cybersecurity, and requiring users to receive safety education to ensure proper operation.

Baek Seung-geun, Director of the Transportation and Logistics Office at the Ministry, said, “We expect that the establishment of these ethical guidelines will accelerate the commercialization of autonomous vehicles in Korea,” and added, “With investments planned for digital SOC under the Korean New Deal, we will do our best to establish various systems and infrastructure related to the commercialization of autonomous vehicles.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.