Saudi Arabia’s Roads General Authority announced that the Saudi Road Code represents a milestone step towards unifying all necessary standards and policies in the road sector, reported the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
The code primarily prepares the infrastructure for self-driving vehicles and sets clear standards for their requirements.
It is currently in its advisory phase, which ends at the end of this 2024, and will be binding on all government agencies as of the beginning of 2025.
According to the authority, the code aims at achieving the best levels of quality, safety and security on the roads and boosting economic efficiency and sustainability with a key focus on accommodating self-driving vehicles.
The code has set a special folder for the requirements of self-driving vehicles, including a mechanism of installing the smart communication devices on both sides of the road to interact directly with autonomous vehicles via advanced networks.
Furthermore, it provides self-driving vehicles with accurate information about the road conditions to facilitate traffic movement.
The adoption of these vehicles fosters the level of traffic safety on the roads, promotes the quality of life, and fulfills economic efficiency and sustainability in the road network.
The code serves as a comprehensive technical guide for all road authorities in Saudi Arabia, including ministries, urban development authorities, regional secretariats, and city and governorate municipalities.
It will enable these entities to access the necessary information to plan, design, implement, operate, and maintain roads of all types across the Kingdom. The process will take into consideration the environmental aspects and the requirements of self-driving vehicles, in addition to guidelines, drawings, procedures, and checklists for all road networks in the Kingdom.
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