Experts have warned the wording of current road rules risks creating legal loopholes around self-driving vehicles.

A paper by researchers at Charles Darwin University examines traffic rules across Australia and how their language may limit the application of laws for vehicles that drive without human input.  

The say, for example, that SA’s Road Traffic Act gives police the power to direct a driver to stop, but it includes wording that specifies a driver as being a “person”. 

Road legislation in Queensland has similar wording.  

The authors argue that as use of automated cars increases, the definition of “driver” will become more problematic.  

“The driver dilemma can be strongly identified in these stopping powers, all of which are addressed to the ‘driver’,” senior lecturer in law Mark Brady said.

“Powers directed to drivers to stop vehicles are problematic when applied to automated vehicles where the automated driving system cannot at law be considered a driver.”  

The paper notes most rules relating to passenger transport are vehicle-centric, such as laws allowing authorities to stop taxis and hire cars.

Dr Brady suggests the wording in these laws could be used as a template for road rules around self-driving vehicles.  

“Passenger transport laws all have explicit objectives about the public interest in safe, efficient and accessible passenger transport,” he said.  

“These vehicle-centric powers exist where there were significant public policy grounds to stop vehicles, irrespective of the driver’s conduct.”  

The federal government announced last year that it had held public consultations on the development of a national Automated Vehicle Safety Law.