This September, self-driving vehicles will take to the streets of Vilnius for the first time in Lithuania’s history. One of the country’s retail chains will deploy these vehicles to deliver groceries directly to customers’ homes. Unsurprisingly, many people have wondered whether a vehicle can legally participate in public traffic without direct human control.

In fact, Lithuanian legislation has permitted this since 2018. At the time, policymakers were engaged in something of a legislative grand prix, seeking to legalise autonomous vehicles ahead of other jurisdictions. The resulting regulatory framework for self-driving vehicles, as autonomous vehicles are referred to in Lithuanian legislation, was described as “flexible”. However, the rush to regulate did not lead to any immediate practical results.

Major manufacturers of autonomous vehicles showed little interest in the opportunity created by the legislation, and no public-road trials involving autonomous vehicles took place in Lithuania for several years. As a result, the regulatory framework itself attracted relatively little attention.

The situation changed when the Estonian company Cleveron Mobility, which develops autonomous electric vehicles, entered into an agreement with Lithuanian retail chain IKI to provide a delivery platform. Under this arrangement, fully driverless autonomous electric vehicles known as Clevon 1 will be tested in Lithuania and used to deliver goods purchased online. The first such vehicles are expected to appear on Lithuanian roads in early September.

Conditions for Participation in Road Traffic

The Description of the Conditions and Procedure for Testing Self-Driving Vehicles and Their Participation in Public Road Traffic (the Description) sets out the rules applicable to manufacturers, owners, operators and drivers involved in testing self-driving vehicle technologies and operating such vehicles on public roads.

In addition to the obvious requirement that operators and drivers comply with the Law on Road Traffic Safety and the Road Traffic Rules, the Description also contains a number of obligations that are specific to self-driving vehicles. For example:

  • Manufacturers, owners, operators and drivers of self-driving vehicles must take all necessary measures to ensure the cybersecurity of such vehicles. Admittedly, this requirement is rather broadly worded and leaves room for interpretation as to what measures are sufficient. Moreover, the legislation does not specify the cybersecurity standard that must be achieved.
  • Before any testing on public roads may begin, the planned route of a self-driving vehicle must be approved in writing by the owner of the relevant road or street. In other words, a self-driving vehicle may operate only within a pre-approved and specifically designated area.
  • Self-driving vehicles must be equipped with data-recording devices capable of establishing the cause of a traffic accident or traffic offence and identifying the responsible party. This is similar to the “black box” systems used in aircraft. The requirement suggests that such equipment is intended to determine whether the vehicle was operating autonomously or whether it was being controlled directly or remotely by a person. In the event of damage or an accident, these records may help allocate liability between the manufacturer and the operator of the vehicle.
  • Temporary registration plates must be obtained from Regitra, Lithuania’s vehicle registration authority. Such plates are issued only after the route has been approved in writing by the relevant road owner and the Lithuanian Transport Safety Administration has confirmed the vehicle’s compliance with applicable technical requirements. In practical terms, autonomous vehicles must satisfy the same technical standards as conventional vehicles, including requirements relating to brakes, steering systems, visibility equipment, lights, reflectors, electrical systems, axles, wheels, tyres, suspension and chassis components.

Where a self-driving vehicle complies with all requirements set out in the Description, its owner or operator may conduct trials in public traffic in order to assess the vehicle’s condition and demonstrate its suitability for operation.

Drivers of conventional vehicles should also resist the temptation to test or provoke autonomous vehicles in order to see how effectively they respond in real-life traffic conditions. The Description requires self-driving vehicles to be equipped with recording systems that collect, among other things, information about the presence and movement of objects in their immediate surroundings.

Flexibility and Uncertainty Go Hand in Hand

The flexibility of the regulatory framework inevitably comes with a degree of uncertainty, and this can create challenges. For example, the Law on Road Traffic Safety defines a self-driving vehicle as a vehicle capable of operating in public traffic without human intervention, while also allowing for direct or remote human control if such functionality has been предусмотрена by the manufacturer.

The definition does not clarify which level of vehicle automation a vehicle must achieve in order to qualify as a self-driving vehicle under Lithuanian law. There are five recognised levels of vehicle autonomy, yet the legislation does not specify which of these levels falls within the statutory definition.

According to researchers at Stanford University, autonomous systems are those that limit, even to a minimal extent, a driver’s ability to exercise complete control over the system. Under such a broad interpretation, even vehicles equipped with the now widely used Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) could arguably be classified as autonomous.

This is why discussions at conferences on autonomous vehicle regulation frequently stress the need for lawmakers to clearly define what constitutes an autonomous vehicle. It is also important not to overlook the principle of clarity in legislation, which is enshrined in Lithuania’s Law on the Framework of Legislation. Under this principle, legal regulation must be logical, consistent, concise, comprehensible, precise, clear and unambiguous.