Overview
ISO 39003:2023 - Road traffic safety (RTS) provides guidance on ethical considerations relating to safety for autonomous vehicles (AVs). It applies specifically to AVs operating at SAE J3016 level 5 (full automation). The standard does not prescribe technical control methods, offer outcomes for ethical decisions, or require specific methodologies. Instead, it identifies ethical aspects and behavioral considerations designers and manufacturers should address and provides a set of protocol-style guidelines that decision makers can use for self‑certification.
Key topics
- Scope & applicability: Focus on level 5 automated driving and road traffic safety; clarifies limits (no technical algorithms or mandated decision outcomes).
- External factors: Road environment and other contextual influences on AV behaviour.
- Stakeholders: Roles and responsibilities for producers, suppliers, distributors, operators, purchasers and government bodies.
- Governance & assessment: Ethical reference frameworks, assessment processes, expression of results, and post‑implementation checks.
- Operationalization of ethics: Values, principles, construction and evaluation of ethical “maxims”, and translation into driving action policies.
- Driving action policies: Practical guidance covering in‑lane behaviour, lane changes, interaction with other road users, unavoidable collisions, yielding to emergency services, failure modes, negotiations and conflict resolution.
- Rule framework: Primary/supporting rules, precautionary vs. performance rules, exceptions, violations, deviations, boundaries (margins, barriers, buffers) and promoters for desirable behaviour.
- Design & sustainability: Considerations for internal/external design impacts and sustainability issues.
- Review: Re‑evaluation following control system updates.
- Informative annexes: Ethical philosophy, sustainability topics, responsibility and accountability, and example action plans.
Practical applications
- Helps AV manufacturers, system designers and suppliers integrate ethics into decision‑making policies without dictating algorithms.
- Supports safety assessors, regulators and certification bodies in evaluating whether design processes considered ethical aspects and accountability.
- Guides operators, fleet managers and procurement teams when specifying acceptable AV behaviour and self‑certification claims.
- Assists policymakers and road authorities in understanding the ethical dimensions of full‑automation deployment.
Who should use it
- AV manufacturers, OEMs and Tier‑1 suppliers
- Designers of decision‑making and behaviour policies for AVs
- Regulators, safety auditors and conformity assessors
- Fleet operators, infrastructure planners and policymakers
Related standards
- References SAE J3016 (2022) for automation levels.
- Intended to complement technical safety and system standards used in AV design (e.g., governance, functional safety, SOTIF, cybersecurity) by providing the ethical context for decision‑making.
Keywords: ISO 39003:2023, road traffic safety, RTS, ethical considerations, autonomous vehicles, AV, SAE J3016 level 5, driving action policies, governance, assessment, self‑certification.