China May Have Rules Ready This Year for Self-Driving Cars

China is developing a nationwide set of technical standards for self-driving cars and may have the rules ready before the end of 2016, the Shanghai Daily reports.

The regulations are part of a plan to put highway-ready autonomous cars on Chinese roads in 3-5 years, says Li Keqiang, an engineering professor at Tsinghua University. He chairs the committee that is drafting the standards with the backing of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The regulations will include a common language that enables cars to communicate with each other and the infrastructure around them. Li says China may opt to make such connections using advanced cellular data technology. He opines that LTE or 5G systems could be simpler and faster to adopt than the dedicated short-range communications systems developed over years for markets in Europe and the U.S.

The proposed rules also would establish a single nationwide set of regulations for autonomous vehicles, thereby avoiding the state-level patchwork of such regulations that is emerging in the U.S.

Observers point out that self-driving cars could offer major safety benefits on China’s often chaotic roads. The World Health Organization estimates more than 200,000 people die annually in road accidents in the country.

A poll last year by the World Economic Forum found 75% of Chinese respondents willing to ride in an automatic car. The survey said only 50% of U.S. respondents felt the same way.