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ARTICLE · 03 MAY 2018

Québec To Recognize And Regulate Autonomous Vehicles

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On April 17, 2018, the Québec legislature enacted Bill 165, An Act to amend the Highway Safety Code and other provisions. Bill 165 marks the first time ...

CanadaTransport
Julia Kappler
Julia Kappler
Melissa Tehrani
Melissa Tehrani
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On April 17, 2018, the Québec legislature enacted Bill 165, An Act to amend the Highway Safety Code and other provisions1. Bill 165 marks the first time that autonomous vehicles will be recognized – and regulated – in Québec.

Until Bill 165, the Highway Safety Code2 and other relevant legislation were silent on the issue of autonomous vehicles. The current Highway Safety Code simply defines3 a "road vehicle" as "a motor vehicle that can be driven on a highway [...]", and a "motor vehicle" as "a motorized road vehicle primarily adapted for the transportation of persons or property". Bill 165 makes direct reference to "autonomous vehicles", defined as "a road vehicle equipped with an automated driving system that can operate a vehicle at driving automation level 3, 4 or 5 of the SAE International's Standard J3016" 4 .

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