Legal regulation of the use of unmanned vehicles in the Russian Federation

Koroleva Ekaterina Gennad'evna PhD in Philology Deputy Head of the Department of Administrative Law and Administrative Activities of the Police, Moscow Regional Branch of the Moscow University of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation named after V.Ya. Kikotya" 143103, Russia, Moscow region, Ruza, Staroteryaevo village, MOF of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, office 316 kat_kor81@mail.ru

The development of vehicles is one of the key elements of the development of modern civilization. Today, the whole world, including Russia, is witnessing a new technological revolution, when vehicles are gradually becoming unmanned. The new technological revolution is directly related to the improvement and growth of technological solutions based on the use of artificial intelligence in various spheres of modern society.

Since the idea of creating an unmanned vehicle and its subsequent use on public roads, both in the Russian Federation and in other countries, there has been an urgent issue of changing the regulatory framework governing the process of road traffic in the context of increasing widespread digitalization.

The main feature of unmanned vehicles is their ability to operate without direct human involvement, which necessitates the use of new technologies capable of ensuring their operation. First of all, we are talking about adaptive artificial intelligence systems that control driverless cars while ensuring uninterrupted and safe interaction with the environment ^{[4, p. 25]}.

Let's turn to the concept of "unmanned vehicle": an unmanned vehicle (hereinafter referred to as a BTS) is a highly or fully automated vehicle operating without human intervention (in unmanned mode), equipped with an automated driving system that operates within a specific environment of regular operation in relation to some or all trips without the need for human intervention in as a backup option for ensuring road safety (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 724-r dated 03/25/2020).

Let's highlight the main aspects that allow us to assert the need for the introduction and use of BTS on the roads of our country: first, it is to improve road safety. BTS are equipped with advanced artificial intelligence systems, computer vision and other sensors that allow them to detect obstacles, calculate optimal trajectories and avoid accidents ^{[6, p. 245]}. Due to the absence of the human factor associated with fatigue, alcohol or emotional state, the use of BTS is able to reduce the number of road accidents (hereinafter referred to as accidents), and accordingly reduce the severity of their consequences.

Secondly, improving transport efficiency. BTS can operate in conditions of heavy traffic, their ability to coordinate the speed and trajectory of movement helps to significantly reduce travel time and improve road capacity.

Thirdly, BTS can provide transport accessibility to people who, for objective reasons, cannot drive a car on their own (such as disability, young age and lack of the right to drive a car).

Fourth, the introduction of BTS will reduce the costs and expenses for transport and logistics related to the salaries of drivers and freight forwarders, which will reduce the cost of delivering goods and cargo.

However, there are currently problems in the way of using unmanned vehicles on public roads related to the safety of using autonomous vehicle control systems and legal regulation ^{[1, p. 60]}.

It should be noted at once that the term "Unmanned vehicle" is used in regulatory acts along with other terms: highly automated vehicle (VATS), robotic vehicle, self-driving vehicle, etc. But none of the above terms is generally recognized and legally fixed.

According to its content characteristics, an unmanned vehicle is an artificial reusable object that does not have a driver, capable of independently and purposefully moving in space in order to transport goods or passengers in autonomous mode.

The ability to carry out unmanned movement in space in autonomous mode distinguishes an unmanned vehicle from vehicles with remote control, which also do not have a driver when moving, but are controlled remotely by a person (an external driver) ^{[7, p. 113]}.

The use of BTS on public roads is a new and complex area that requires the development, testing and implementation of innovative legal norms in the field of the use of unmanned vehicles on public roads.

We agree with A.Y. Kuzmina, who rightly notes that the introduction of scientific and technical developments in various spheres of human activity requires legislative regulation, since ensuring the normal functioning of the entire state mechanism, as well as regulating human behavior, directly depends on this ^{[3, p. 120]}.

First of all, when analyzing the current state of the legal regulation of the use of BTS, let us turn to the provisions of the Convention on Road Traffic (Concluded in Vienna on 11/18/1968), which contains the requirement that every vehicle or combination of vehicles that are in motion must have a driver. It is this Convention that makes up the unified rules of legal regulation almost all over the world in the field of road safety.

However, an analysis of the legislation of the Russian Federation has shown that in the normative legal acts regulating road traffic there is no mention that a driver must drive a vehicle, in addition there is no prohibition on the use of driving automation systems.

In this regard, actions are already being taken in our country to use BTS in road traffic, so the Government of the Russian Federation has adopted Concepts for ensuring road safety with the participation of unmanned vehicles (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 03/25/2020 No. 724-r), a program for an experimental legal regime in the field of digital innovations for the operation of highly automated vehicles (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 309 dated 03/09/2022) and the Transport Strategy of the Russian Federation until 2030 with a forecast for the period up to 2035 (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 3363-r dated 11/27/2021). These regulations define the goals of the introduction of unmanned vehicles and fundamental approaches to ensuring the safe interaction of unmanned vehicles with other road users. It should be noted that after the adoption of these regulations, unmanned vehicles have already begun to appear and participate in traffic on the roads of our country in test modes.

At the same time, there are certain difficulties in the legal and organizational regulation of the use of unmanned vehicles in the process of road traffic. These difficulties are related to several factors.

First, there is the question of resolving the "moral" problem associated with decision-making on driving an artificial intelligence car. There is a dilemma related to whether an unmanned vehicle should be designed in such a way that, regardless of the circumstances, it ensures the safety and life of the passenger, even if this means harming other road users in an emergency situation. Or, an unmanned vehicle must do everything possible to ensure that traffic sections, including pedestrians, are not at any risk.

Secondly, there is a ban on participation in road traffic of vehicles that do not meet the established technical requirements and do not have certificates and other mandatory documents authorizing the operation of the car. This means that the granting of such a permit requires special measures and procedures related to the verification and confirmation of compliance of transport systems with certain standards and requirements.

In general, the issues of legal regulation of BTS access to public roads are relevant and require a unified and reasoned position of state and international bodies to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the use of unmanned vehicles in everyday life.

Thus, one can agree with the opinion of T.A. Tukhvatullin and E.S. Kondratov, who suggest that the use of completely unmanned vehicles will require a rethink and adjustment of the Russian legal framework governing legal relations in the field of transport, since in addition to solving the problems of legal regulation, the actual release of innovative means of transportation on highways and adaptation of the existing transport infrastructure to them, It will be necessary to determine the issue of legal liability for road accidents involving such vehicles ^{[4, p. 31]}. 

The analysis of scientific and legal literature has shown that researchers and lawyers propose various ways to modernize modern Russian legislation on the legal provision of the use of BTS on public roads.

Some experts propose to amend the current legislation regulating road safety, for example, in Federal Law No. 196-FZ dated 12/10/1995 "On Road Safety" ^[2] and the Rules of the Road of the Russian Federation (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 10/23/1993 No. 1090), other experts consider it appropriate to legally regulate access to public roads of BTS by adopting a special law "On unmanned vehicles", which should contain norms regulating the main issues of operation of unmanned vehicles.

However, both the former and the latter adhere to the same position that there is a need to develop provisions on legal liability for the use of BTS, which should be contained in the norms of criminal, administrative and civil legislation. So A.O. Ananenko notes in his work that there are problems of criminal and administrative liability for violations of the norms and rules of the use of BTS. As for the obligation to compensate for damage caused by BTS as a source of increased danger, the obligation of citizens and legal entities whose activities are related to the use of BTS has already been established by the relevant norms of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation ^{[2, p. 155]}. In turn, I.G. Ustinova points out that the particular complexity of the legal regulation of the use of unmanned vehicles is due to a number of reasons, and highlights the following: there are no norms in Russian criminal legislation establishing liability for crimes committed during the use of BTS; the qualification of an accident that can occur with the participation of BTS is ambiguous; none of the legal the norms of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation do not regulate relations arising in the case of external interference in the functioning of unmanned vehicles ^{[5, p. 326]}.

         Thus, the legal regulation of the use of unmanned vehicles is an urgent and important topic, because it is an innovative area that has the potential to change the transport industry and influence existing traffic rules and regulations.

If we turn to international experience, it can be noted that today, for example, in the European Union (hereinafter – the EU) there is no single regulatory legal act fully regulating the use of BTS. However, the European Union is developing a set of common rules and standards that will be applied to BTS when they are operated on public roads. The main document regulating this area is the Directive "On the general framework for the placement of ITS in the field of road transport and interaction with other modes of transport" (Adopted in Strasbourg on 07.07.2010). The specified regulatory act establishes rules for transport systems, including BTS, which are under the control of the driver, even if in some situations they can operate in autonomous mode. The Directive also defines the principles of interaction between transport systems with the driver and other road users ^{[8, p. 160]}.

The national governments of the EU are also actively engaged in the development of their national legislation and strategies regarding the use of BTS. However, there remains some uncertainty and inconsistency between national approaches, which creates some obstacles to the harmonization of the legal regulation of the use of BTS in the EU. To overcome these challenges, the EU supports dialogue and cooperation among all stakeholders, including manufacturers, public authorities, members of the public and scientific researchers. In the EU, work is currently underway to create a unified regulatory framework and standards that will ensure the safety and effectiveness of BTS on public roads. An important aspect of such regulation is cooperation between Member States, industry and the public in order to ensure the successful integration of BTS into the EU transport system.        

         Considering the above, we come to the conclusion that in our country it is necessary to use an integrated approach to the legal regulation of the use of unmanned vehicles on public roads. First of all, it is necessary to develop a national standard "On unmanned wheeled vehicles", which should contain both technical requirements for BTS and requirements related to the safety of the hardware and software control complex of such a vehicle. Further, to adopt a framework law containing the basic concepts, terms, definitions, rights and obligations of developers and operators of BTS, and on the basis of this law to develop and amend existing regulatory legal acts regulating road safety and legal responsibility.