37. The expert from France, Co-Chair of the Task Force on the Fitness for ADS of GRVA Regulations and Global Technical Regulations (TF on FADS), presented GRVA-16-33. He recalled the request from WP.29 to review UN Global Technical Regulations (GTRs) and UN Regulations regarding their fitness for ADS. He detailed the screening process and reported on the activities of the task force as well as on the outcome of the recent meeting hosted in Tianjin, China. He also reported on the results of the screening performed by the other subsidiary bodies of WP.29 to date, he provided a summary of open issues identified during the screening process and gave an outlook on the next possible steps. He recommended to start working on amendments for fully automated vehicles right after the screening task was completed, to be followed by amendments for the dual mode vehicles.

38. The expert from France answered to the questions received. He clarified that the active safety regulations (UN Regulations Nos. 131, 140, 152) would not be fit for ADS in the sense that an authority could not grant a type-approval for ADS vehicles based on these regulations. He detailed, upon request, that remote driving was not considered by the task force as it was not part of the existing regulations to date. He explained that UN Regulation No. 89 (speed limitation device) would require special consideration.

39. GRVA commended the work done and requested that a report is prepared for WP.29 in June 2023. GRVA suggested two alternatives to WP.29 regarding the follow-up activities, either direct coordination by WP.29 or continuation of the task force activities. GRVA recommended that open issues and fundamental questions were presented to WP.29, together with the potential answers and guidance to facilitate decision making. GRVA discussed planning and structure considerations. GRVA agreed to deal with the questions on slide 8 of GRVA-16-33 at its September 2023 session.

40. The expert from OICA introduced GRVA-16-13, proposing new vehicle subcategories aimed at characterizing the variety of ADS equipped vehicles for the purpose of vehicle regulations.

41. The expert received clarifying questions and comments. The expert from France stated that GRVA must identify the actual need before setting up subcategories and raised concerns about the complexity of the proposed subcategories. The expert from the United Stated of America recommended that OICA should consider not only the consolidated resolution R.E.3 but also the special resolution S.R.1. The expert from AAPC noted that the terms used by OICA were not always consistent with the definitions drafted by the IWG on FRAV. The expert from the Netherlands proposed to harmonize the wording with existing provisions such as those in Regulation (EU) 2022/1426. The expert from Canada advised to consult WP.1 on this issue.

42. The expert from OICA explained that they would also consider S.R.1 and would present their ideas to the Working Party on General Safety provisions (GRSG) after having received the comments by GRVA. He proposed to develop a Questions and Answers document to be presented later in the course of the session’s week. He also proposed to organize a joint workshop between GRVA and GRSG.

43. On the last day, the expert from OICA presented GRVA-16-47 with the answers to the questions received on their proposal for new vehicle subcategories for ADS equipped vehicles. Many stakeholders welcomed the proposal as it only included subcategories to existing categories. Some pointed out the complexity of the proposal due to the many subcategories suggested. GRVA requested the secretariat to distribute GRVA-16-47 with an official symbol at the September 2023 session.

44. GRVA received an amendment proposal to UN Regulation No. 48, GRVA-16-12 (based on ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRE/2023/9), tabled by the Working Party on Lighting and Light-signalling (GRE) Task Force on Autonomous Vehicle Signalling Requirements (AVSR), aimed at “introducing provisions for vehicles with a driving system, which controls its operations or may be operated by driver support features or automated driving features or by an ADS.

45. The expert from AVERE commented that many of the amendments in the document were valid for ADS as well as for Driver Control Assistance System (DCAS). The expert from OICA inquired if AVSR considered the use case covering vehicles without seats and suggested to consider loading conditions criteria also for such vehicles. The expert from Japan clarified that para. 2.3.12 was only relevant for ADS but not for ADAS. He invited the task force to refer to the work done by the IWG on FRAV. The expert from France stated that bidirectional vehicles were not a priority. The expert from OICA noted that AVSR did not consider many use cases. He recommended to postpone the adoption of amendments to UN Regulation No. 48. The expert from Germany recalled the priorities defined by GRVA regarding the screening of vehicle regulations and recalled that new seating position concepts and bidirectional vehicles were considered but not as a priority. The expert from France reflected on possible collaborations between the TF on FADS and GRE.