The National Government has enacted Decree 196/2025 (hereinafter, the ‘Decree’), which incorporates autonomous vehicles into the National Traffic and Road Safety Law. According to the recitals of the Decree, this incorporation is a consequence of the advancements in autonomous vehicles technology.

The Decree defines autonomous vehicles as those equipped with complex systems designed to complement, improve and assist the human capabilities of driving, controlling and navigating the vehicle, within predetermined environments and conditions. Its objective is to travel from point A to point B, as determined by the operator, with a statistically superior safety than the average human driving performance.

Additionally, the Decree divides autonomous vehicles into different categories, called ‘’levels’’, according to the amount of autonomy that the vehicle has:

• Level 0 – No automation in driving.
• Level 1 – Driver assistance.
• Level 2 – Partial automation.
• Level 3 – Conditional automation.
• Level 4 – High automation.
• Level 5 – Full automation.

Self-directed vehicles must be equipped with a system (hardware, sensors, actuators, satellite positioning systems and software) authorized by the National Road Safety Agency. Such authorization will be granted if it is demonstrated that the accident rate is lower than the average accident rate caused by human driving. In the event that this condition is no longer complied, the authorization will be revoked.

Furthermore, the Decree provides that, in cases where a vehicle operates in autonomous mode, it must be verified that the declared level of automation effectively corresponds to the vehicle’s actual driving capabilities. This means that the use, authorization, and supervision of the vehicle must align with its true degree of autonomy, in accordance with the classification levels established by the regulation (from 0 to 5), in order to ensure safety and traceability conditions.

Finally, the Decree states that if an accident involves vehicles with systems that record their operations and there are victims, this must be reported. The authorities must seize the data recording device. Likewise, the driver, passenger, or any other relevant person must hand over the recorder data to the authorities.

In cases where the accident does not result in victims, the interested party may provide the data to the authorities in order to be used as evidence.

With the enactment of the Decree, this type of technology is legally recognized, while also imposing specific requirements regarding safety, traceability, and control. This measure aims to modernize the national traffic system, anticipating a scenario in which driverless operation ceases to be a futuristic projection and becomes a reality already contemplated by the current legal framework.