Guangzhou plans to allow manned tests for self-driving cars

(Photo: VCG)

On June 4, the Communications Commission of Guangzhou Municipality issued a notice soliciting opinions from the public towards road testing intelligently connected vehicles, i.e. autonomous vehicles. This is the first mention of manned tests for self-driving vehicles in China.

According to the notice, enterprises who want to conduct manned self-driving tests must meet at least six requirements, which includes purchasing traffic accident liability insurance of no less than 5 million RMB (about 780 thousand USD) for each vehicle, performing more than 10, 000 kilometers of driving tests with no occurrence of traffic accidents or out-of-control situations, and taking the main responsibility for the tests.

Previous media reports cited that many cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, have issued regulations on self-driving tests, but none of them mentioned manned tests for self-driving vehicles.