Draft legislation focuses on enhanced road safety

Editor's note: The draft revision of the Law on Road Traffic Safety is open for public comments till Sept 26. This is the first comprehensive overhaul of the law. Given its relevance to people's daily life, the draft has attracted widespread public interest. Below are some key changes proposed in the draft, along with insights from several members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, as reported by China Youth Daily. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

The Law on Road Traffic Safety has achieved notable results since it came into effect in 2004. During this period, the number of motor vehicles in China has grown from about 107 million to 435 million. Despite this surge in the vehicle population, the number of annual deaths due to road accidents nationwide has fallen from over 100,000 to around 60,000.

The current revision will help enhance regulations concerning roads, vehicles and people traveling on roads, adapting to new industries and technologies while meeting the demand for better governance of road and traffic safety.

One notable feature of the draft revision is the introduction of penalties targeting street racing. This is in response to the concerns raised by the public. The provisions should be further improved to clearly define street racing and engine revving that disrupts the peace, establish tiered penalties and increase the fines. The provisions should also ensure that auto-repair companies and online platforms are held accountable for the illegal modification of vehicles.

The draft also places new responsibilities on internet platforms, prohibiting them from using algorithms or internal policies to force or allow their delivery riders to drive motor vehicles or ride electric bicycles in ways that violate traffic regulations.

Algorithm control should be tightened to address the root cause of violations by delivery riders. The law should include provisions requiring platforms to file their delivery algorithms with the transport authorities, so that the authorities can check whether they induce delivery riders to race against time. In case an accident is caused by a flaw in the algorithm, not only the rider should be held accountable. The platform should also bear liability.

A dedicated chapter in the draft revision lays out special provisions on automated driving vehicles. The safe and orderly development of automated driving has far-reaching significance for China's transportation, tourism, urban governance, environmental protection and economic development, and even for national defense and national security.

Although assisted driving has already become a mainstream feature of new cars, the draft revision does not contain specific provisions on the driver's responsibilities to drive with caution in the assisted driving mode and the automaker's duty to inform customers. The draft should include provisions that require drivers of vehicles equipped with only assisted driving systems to remain in control at all times. Automakers should also be mandated to explicitly inform consumers about the limitations and conditions of use of assisted driving systems.

Furthermore, the draft revision should stipulate that vehicles equipped with automated driving systems be equipped with a data recording device similar to a black box. Automakers should be required to provide traffic authorities and relevant parties with timely and complete data after an accident or a traffic violation occurs. A third-party data storage platform should be established to ensure that data is not tampered with.