Austria, Hungary, Slovenia set up middle Europe driverless region

The transport ministers of Austria, Hungary and Slovenia have signed an agreement to cooperate on the development of autonomous vehicles and e-mobility. The agreement advocates creating an Austrian-Hungarian-Slovenian driverless region to help develop and understand the latest mobility technologies and vehicles, according to a report in the Austrian newspaper Oberösterreichische Nachrichten. A test-track for autonomous vehicles stretching from Graz, Austria, to Zalaegerszeg in Hungary, via Maribor, Sl
April 3, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
The transport ministers of Austria, Hungary and Slovenia have signed an agreement to cooperate on the development of autonomous vehicles and e-mobility.


The agreement advocates creating an Austrian-Hungarian-Slovenian driverless region to help develop and understand the latest mobility technologies and vehicles, according to a report in the Austrian newspaper Oberösterreichische Nachrichten.

A test-track for autonomous vehicles stretching from Graz, Austria, to Zalaegerszeg in Hungary, via Maribor, Slovenia, may be constructed, the report noted.

The signing ceremony was also attended by European Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc, the Slovenian member of the EU Commission.

Driverless cars and their impact on road design is being studied by the Vienna-based 2682 Austrian Institute of Technology through its interdisciplinary via-AUTONOM programme. Under scrutiny are new forms and technologies of road infrastructure that would facilitate safe and efficient automated road transport. It is studying how road infrastructure can optimise automated driving functions such as lane planning, proactive driving behaviour, pre-crash support and an “enhanced electronic horizon”.

In the world of big data, the institute if looking at which infrastructure and vehicle data are relevant to support autonomous driving, and how can they be combined. The project aims to investigate road infrastructure measures that have the highest effectiveness for the transition period with automated vehicles and non-automated road users.

Another objective is to identify where those measures must be implemented. To this end, via-AUTONOM develops a risk model to identify critical spots and road sections - intersections, roadwork zones and curves with limited sight distance – that may hold back increased use of automated vehicles.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Driverless vehicles -safe at any speed?
    May 22, 2018
    The development of driverless vehicles is ongoing, with manufacturers in the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea and China all working on various projects. But as the recent pedestrian fatality involving a driverless car under test in Arizona highlights, safety is not entirely assured. One key problem is that the road environment is not straightforward and self-driving vehicles have to share roadspace with vehicles under human control. However, human behaviour is not easy to predict. Nor is there one mode of beh
    Read More
  • Driver distraction is a road safety risk
    September 12, 2019
    Driver distraction is an increasing concern for the road safety sector. According to the FIA Region 2 (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile), a distraction time of just two seconds is sufficient to cause a crash. The FIA’s data suggests that to 25% of road crashes are due to distraction, with 25-30% of total driving time spent on distracting activities. Commissioner Bulc, European Commissioner for Transport, recently warned against distraction caused by the use of mobile phone. She said, “Distraction
    Read More
  • TISPOL Conference: autonomous vehicles high on safety agenda
    February 2, 2017
    Safety and autonomous vehicles exercised the minds of some of Europe’s senior police officers at the recent TISPOL European Traffic Police Network Conference in the UK. The European Union looks like missing its target of halving the number of people killed on its roads each year by 2020. Just when European police forces are trying to get back on target, along comes the autonomous vehicle with all its inherent safety issues.
    Read More
  • Carry on Movin’ On - Michelin’s mobility event
    October 15, 2018
    Many of the great and the good in the global mobility sector gathered at this year’s Movin’ On event in Montreal. Measured regulation of technologies and safety issues were major themes, reports David Arminas Autonomous vehicles, platooning, smart intersections and safety – these were the talking points over two and half days of the Movin’ On event in Montreal. Everyone in the mobility sector is at the same point, trying to see what mobility will look like in the future. Apparent at the event was just
    Read More

Highlighted Content