G-7 Ministers Vow to Collaborate on Automated Driving

Karuizawa, Nagano Pref., Sept. 24 (Jiji Press)--The Group of Seven major industrialized nations will work together to promptly realize the practical use of automated driving technologies, their transport ministers said in a joint statement on Saturday. "We will cooperate with each other and exercise leadership to support the early commercialization of automated and connected vehicle technologies," the G-7 ministers said in the statement issued at their meeting in the central Japan resort town of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture. The new technologies are expected to "contribute not only to a reduction in quantity and scale of traffic accidents, but also to reduce traffic congestion, improve efficiencies including logistics, reduce environmental and health impacts, alleviate driver burdens and expand opportunities," the statement said. These technologies are "also expected to improve the mobility and accessibility of transport...particularly for the elderly and persons with reduced mobility, or for those living in remote or underpopulated areas," it said. The G-7 ministers underscored the importance of collaboration among the government, business and academic sectors to "support the safe and effective deployment of automated and connected vehicle technologies." Speaking at a press conference, Japanese transport minister Keiichi Ishii, who chaired the meeting, said the G-7 ministers recognized the need to make future regulations on automated driving technologies internationally harmonious. A joint working group that the ministers agreed to set up will discuss key new issues related to driverless vehicles, including role-sharing between humans and systems while driving and road infrastructure development, Ishii said. The outcome of the working group's discussions "should form the basis for well-designed and globally harmonized future looking regulations and other measures," the joint statement said. The G-7 ministers also said they recognized "the importance of managing the spectrum to ensure the interference-free safety communication needed for the safe deployment and operation of automated and connected vehicles." The ministers also confirmed that governments and public entities should "secure adequate and sufficient fiscal resources on a mid- to long-term basis" to address the aging of transport infrastructure. They encouraged "the development and deployment of innovative financing tools including public-private partnerships," according to the statement. END