Germany to create world's first highway code for driverless cars

This month, Germany's transport minister, Alexander Dobrindt, proposed a bill to provide the first legal framework for autonomous vehicles. It would govern how such cars perform in collisions where lives might be lost. The laws attempt to deal with what some call the "death valley" of autonomous vehicles: the grey area between semi-autonomous and fully driverless cars that could delay the driverless future. Dobrindt wants three things: that a car always opts for property damage over personal injury; that it never distinguishes between humans based on categories such as age or race; and that if a human removes his or her hands from the steering wheel – to check email, say – the car's manufacturer is liable if there is a collision. "The change to the road traffic law will permit fully automatic driving," says Dobrindt.