New Laws Needed To Support Development Of Autonomous Vehicles - Loke

As autonomous vehicles (AVs) eventually become commercially viable, the Malaysian government is considering new legislation to govern AVs on public roads, NST has reported. Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the framework will help with the development and digitization of autonomous vehicles, especially when it comes to their use in logistics and public transportation

There is no doubt that the law needs to be amended, Loke added. “For example, once the technology is proven to be safe and ready for mass market adoption, we will need to modify the licensing process and the way AV buses are placed on the road

The government needs to look ahead because most of our public transportation systems won't employ human drivers in 10 or 20 years, he continued. For this reason, the government is taking the preliminary steps to determine how feasible this is before determining what legislative amendments can be made.
However, there is currently no timeline because the proof of concept (PoC) for autonomous public transportation is still being developed.
“At the ministry of transport, we are ready to assist. I believe this matter needs to be examined through examples from other countries that already have a legal framework in place. So far, Malaysia does not yet have a legal framework for autonomous vehicles, so we need to look at examples from abroad as a reference,” Loke said following a 5G demonstration carried out on eMoovit Technology’s autonomous bus yesterday.

He added that the ministry of transport is prepared to facilitate the development of autonomous vehicles in terms of legislation. “We also need to look at its commercialisation, because it’s pointless to have a legal framework without its practical application,” he said.
At the moment, there are no specific laws governing autonomous vehicles, including the Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART), aside from the Road Transport Act 1987 and the Guideline for Public Road Trials of Autonomous Vehicles.