An amendment bill to establish a suitable regulatory regime to facilitate the trial and specified use of autonomous vehicles will be introduced into the Legislative Council for the first and second readings on December 14.

The Road Traffic (Amendment) (Autonomous Vehicles) Bill 2022, aiming to establish a new regulatory framework, was gazetted today.

The Transport & Logistics Bureau said autonomous vehicles technology has the promising advantage of enhancing road safety, optimising the use of limited road space and thereby reducing car accidents arising from human error. Different regions across the world have also been conducting various road tests.

In the Hong Kong Smart City Blueprint 2.0 published in December 2020, one of the smart mobility initiatives is to facilitate the technology advancement and industry development in Vehicle-to-Everything and autonomous vehicles, with a vision of materialising the trial and use of autonomous vehicles on public roads in Hong Kong.

The Government then proposed amending the Road Traffic Ordinance and also empowering the Secretary for Transport & Logistics to make new subsidiary legislation, Autonomous Vehicles Regulation, to establish a suitable regulatory regime to facilitate the trial and specified use of autonomous vehicles.