16. GRVA received the status report (GRVA-12- 30) from the expert from the Netherlands, Co-Chair of the IWG on VMAD, highlighting the work done on guidelines for the New Assessment/Test Method (NATM), as required by the Framework Document on Automated Vehicles. He described the open issues addressed by the subgroups and the collaboration activities with the IWG on FRAV.
17. He explained that the group convened three times since September 2021 and that the four subgroups met 20 times, in total. He detailed that the second iteration of the master document on NATM grew from 46 pages to 103 pages.
18. GRVA acknowledged that the master document prepared by the IWG on VMAD contained information about the pillars of the new assessment test method and went beyond guidelines. GRVA noted that the IWG on VMAD would develop a second document containing guidelines as there was the need to separate recommendations from the descriptive information.
19. The expert from OICA highlighted the importance of the work done by the group and its subgroups. He inquired whether the task of the subgroup 2 was about pass/fail criteria or about information sharing.
20. The expert from China mentioned the different pillars that composed the NATM. He asked how to apply them and how to ensure that the combination of the four pillars was sufficient. The expert from Canada, Co-Chair of the IWG, referred to Chapter 4 titled “Applying a Multi-pillar Approach to the NATM”.
21. The expert from Sweden inquired whether some activities, in parallel to the development of the VMAD guidelines, would be performed under the framework of the 1958 Agreement and if yes, when. The Chair responded that no Contracting Party to the 1958 Agreement had requested to start regulatory activity at this stage.
22. The expert from the Netherlands highlighted the open question regarding the inclusion (or exclusion) of provisions for the user manual concerning misleading names or names given to systems that imply a different performance of the system than the real one.
23. The expert from ETSC referred to his comment under item 4(a) and pointed at Annex IV, item 1.
24. GRVA requested the secretariat to submit GRVA-12-12 to WP.29 for information (in March 2022) and for consideration and vote at its June 2022 session, subject to final review by GRVA at its May 2022 session.
22. The secretariat recalled the purpose of WP.29-186-08 drafted by the IWG on FRAV and WP.29-186-09 drafted by the IWG on Validation Methods for Automated Driving (VMAD), that were mandated under the framework document on automated vehicles (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2019/34/Rev.2 as amended by ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2021/151). The Chair of GRVA detailed the content of the two documents and their purpose. He explained that both documents were guidelines that would be suitable for the contracting parties of the 1998 and 1958 Agreements.
23. The representative of the European Commission stated his full support for these informal documents and added that the contained concepts were also taken into consideration for developing the European Union legislation for ADS.
24. The representative of the United States of America clarified that WP.29-186-08 was not mature enough and recommended not to issue it as an official document for the next session.
25. The representative of OICA stated the importance of the work done by GRVA and its informal working groups under the framework document. He welcomed the progress done on the drafting of guidelines for ADS safety. He explained that OICA would welcome proposals from Contracting Parties for ADS regulations based on the guidelines prepared by GRVA.
26. The representative of OICA advised to initiate a review of the UN Regulations and UN GTRs with regards to their fitness for ADS, including driverless systems, as these regulations might refer to drivers.
27. The Chair of GRVA explained that AC.2 discussed the need to review the UN Regulations and UN GTRs and was in the process of setting a coordinated approach.
28. The representative of the European Commission fully recognized the need to review the Vehicle Regulations, which were linked to drivers, to accommodate for automated/autonomous driving.
29. The representative of the United States of America advised that this task could require a phased approach, one phase being the identification of UN Regulations and UN GTRs of relevance and a second phase being the evaluation of the provisions and test requirements that might be linked to drivers.
30. WP.29 requested all GRs to perform a screening of the UN Regulations and UN GTRs of relevance until March 2023 and agreed to resume consideration of a coordinated approach for reporting to AC.2 and WP.29.
