Autonomous vehicles law and regulation in Italy

Level 5:  Testing Level 5 AVs on public roads in Italy is not permitted as the presence of a person to take control of the vehicle is necessary, even for testing purposes. 1 The regulation for testing of autonomous vehicles requires the constant presence of a driver or “supervisor” able to take control of the vehicle, also in test situations. Therefore, if the vehicle is fully autonomous and does not allow a driver or supervisor to take control of the vehicle at any time and drive manually, the testing is not allowed.

Levels 3-4: According to the Decree 28/2/2018 of the Ministry of Infrastructures and Transport, testing of Levels 3 and 4 AVs on public roads in Italy is permitted only where specific prior authorisation has been obtained from the Ministry.  The first authorisation was granted on 7 May 2019 to Vislab, a spin-off of the University of Parma, and enables the testing of specific AVs on certain roads in the cities of Turin and Parma. 2 According to the Decree 28/2/2018 of the Ministry of Infrastructures and Transport (the “Ministry”), testing on public streets is subject to obtainment of an authorisation issued by the Ministry. The authorisation may be requested, individually or jointly, by the manufacturer of the vehicle equipped with the automatic driving technologies and/or by university or public and private research institutions that carry out tests on vehicles equipped with driving automation technologies. The authorisation is valid only for the specific streets specified in the authorisation itself. The authorisation lasts for one year, but can be renewed. The Ministry will issue the authorisation after having verified compliance with the requirements established by the Decree. The first authorisation has been granted on 7 May 2019 to Vislab, a spin-off of the University of Parma, and enables the testing of autonomous vehicles on certain roads in the cities of Turin and Parma.

No, consumers are not currently permitted to use Levels 3-5 AVs on public roads in Italy. 

The existing general liability regime that applies to all cars on the road in Italy currently applies to AVs, as there are no liability rules specific to AVs. 

Owner: The owner of the vehicle would be jointly and severally liable with the driver, unless he proves that the vehicle was driven against his will. Both the owner and the driver are liable for damages arising out of construction defects or vehicle maintenance defects. In case of leasing contracts, the lessee is liable instead of the owner. 

Driver / operator: The driver of a vehicle without a rail guide would be obliged to compensate the damage caused to people or things by the circulation of the vehicle, if it does not prove to have done everything possible to avoid the damage. As stated above, both the owner and the driver would be liable for damages arising out of construction defects or vehicle maintenance defects. 

Manufacturer: The general liability rules of Italian law would apply and, therefore, the manufacturer could be held liable for damages caused by defects in the vehicle.

For testing purposes, one of the conditions to obtain an authorisation is that the test applicant must have entered into an insurance contract for civil liability relating to the AV, with a maximum coverage equal to four times the maximum coverage required by law for the same type of vehicle without the autonomous driving function. The insurance contract must expressly indicate that the insurer is aware of the vehicle's used methods and that the vehicle is used in automatic operating mode on public roads.

We are not aware of any legal requirements in Italy that apply specifically to warranty claims in respect to AVs. However, warranty claims for AVs would be subject to existing general rules on warranties in Italy, including the mandatory consumer warranty for defects in conformity of two years.