Shenzhen Opens 53 More Roads for Driverless Vehicle Tests

Shenzhen’s Transportation Bureau announced on August 23 that the sites for a third round of open-road driverless vehicle tests have now been confirmed. 53 roads have been opened this time, with a total mileage of about 56.68 km.

Shenzhen has now opened about 201.37 km of test roads for intelligent and connected vehicles. The first batch consists of 105 roads and 124 km, while the second batch includes 29 roads and 20.69 km.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on March 25 during this year that up to now, the distance of open test roads in China has exceeded 5,000 km, and the distance of safety test has exceeded 10 million km. In addition, the ministry will accelerate the road test demonstrations of intelligent and connected vehicles.

On August 1 this year, Shenzhen’s regulation and management of smart connected vehicles took effect, specifying that vehicles listed in the regulatory catalog can be driven on the road after they are registered with the authorities. The regulation divides autonomous driving into three types: conditionally automated driving, highly automated driving and fully automated driving.

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The regulation also clarifies takeover obligations for drivers of intelligent and connected vehicles. Smart connected cars with conditionally automated driving and highly automated driving should have corresponding devices with a driver. Drivers should monitor the running status and surrounding environment of the vehicle, and be ready to take over at any time.

In addition to Shenzhen, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hunan and other places in China have also accelerated the introduction of policies related to driverless vehicles and their commercialization.