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Automated road vehicles
The purpose of a journey, operating conditions and authorisations to distinguish when deploying a vehicle in Slovakia.
The four topics overlap. Road trials and transport services both involve vehicle operation. The applicable requirements depend on the vehicle, purpose and conditions of use.
Verifying functionality and safety
The basic functionality of the automated driving system (ADS), safety properties and technical compatibility are verified away from roads accessible to the public.
These links are expressly provided for fully automated vehicles (FAVs). For an automated vehicle (AV), its approval, ADS function and the driver's role require separate assessment.
The condition in § 49a(1) refers to obtaining the trial permit. Successful completion of road trials is not expressly stated there. Granting a licence remains subject to assessment of the documentation and safety under § 49a(2–4).
Limit of this diagram: for an already approved FAV, the link to the trial permit requires interpretation. An application under § 49(1)(c) and (2)(c) concerns an unapproved vehicle and is made by the manufacturer or its representative. The diagram does not establish a separate direct licensing route for every transport undertaking.
A road transport undertaking established in Slovakia applies in advance. The decision is made by the district office in the regional capital.
New § 32a and added § 42(o) · Act No. 56/2012 Coll.First assess the scope of the Road Transport Act (§ 1–2). Not every movement of people or goods is a transport service under that Act. Own-account transport has a distinct status.
Separate checks cover the vehicle's technical approval and roadworthiness, road traffic rules and authorisations for the particular type of transport. FAV-specific permits do not replace them.
Carriage of dangerous goods: the prohibition in § 49a(10) needs separate assessment. The general goods-transport branch does not establish that such carriage is permitted.
The plus sign denotes cumulative requirements within their applicable scope. The applicability of the special-legislation proviso in § 32a(2) must be established. The reference to Articles 39 and 41 of Regulation (EU) 2018/858 alone does not establish a general exemption from national licensing.
Operation is broader than providing a transport service. For an already approved automated vehicle, the assessment starts from its approval, ADS function and the driver's role. The FAV regime should not automatically be applied to all automated vehicles.
Section 49b(1) expressly links operation approval to passenger or goods transport services. This alone does not establish that other FAV use is permitted without a licence or approval. Section 49a, the general operating conditions and the broader sanction provision in § 148(10)(c) must also be considered. The requirements for other uses remain an issue of interpretation here.
Automated delivery vehicles have a separate regime under § 52 of Act No. 106/2018 Coll. Delivering goods does not, by itself, bring a vehicle within that regime.
The diagram explains Act No. 248/2026 Coll. as promulgated in the Collection of Laws. Article IV provides for commencement on 1 December 2026. Parliamentary adoption on 16 September 2026 is retained as legislative history. For a particular project, apply the legislation in force at the time of the intended activity.
The existing trial-operation rules under § 49 and delivery-vehicle rules under § 52 are identified by the dated versions in the sources. The new §§ 48a and 49a–49f and § 32a under Act No. 248/2026 Coll. are presented as promulgated provisions with future commencement on 1 December 2026.
Issues for legal assessment: road-trial results before licensing, the licensing route for an already approved FAV, the cumulative application of three decisions for a service, and the scope of EU-law exceptions. The new delegated rule-making power in § 136(3)(l) envisages details on the test report, control centre, oversight and safety report.
Designation of a suitable area under § 49c does not replace individual authorisations. This diagram covers road transport. Rail, air and water transport require their own legal branches.
Related amendment, parliamentary print 1326: Article I, point 44 of its adopted text amends § 49(9)(f), a ground for revoking a trial permit. It does not change the applicant categories, the requirement that the AV/FAV be unapproved, or the one-year permit validity checked here. Its adopted text states commencement on 1 January 2027.
Vehicle and route: the scope of technical approval, vehicle type or group, ADS version, operational design domain (ODD), roads or area. The ODD includes traffic, temporal, weather and environmental conditions as well as geographical boundaries.
Licence and operation approval: documentation on oversight, the control centre, data and safety under § 49a. The links to a binding Police Force opinion are set out in § 49a(2)(g) and (3). For operation approval, § 49b(4) requires that opinion. Licence and approval conditions must continue to be met during operation.
Use by the transport undertaking: under § 32a, check establishment in Slovakia, designation of the person carrying out control, evidence of the licence subject to the special-legislation proviso, and vehicle registration in Slovakia. A specific rule applies to a vehicle hired from another Member State.
Operation: continuous availability of technical oversight within the statutory scope, a qualified oversight operator, a control centre, insurance, reaching the minimum safe state, documentation, records and event reporting. Under § 49a(8), oversight is exercised from a control centre in Slovakia.
Human roles: oversight and taking over driving have different legal consequences. An oversight operator who takes over driving may drive only one vehicle at a time and may not simultaneously oversee another (§ 3(5) of Act No. 8/2009 Coll. in the adopted wording).
Dangerous goods: the prohibition in § 49a(10) uses the term ‘automated vehicles’. Its relationship to the separate definition of a fully automated vehicle in § 2(2)(ae) requires legal interpretation. The diagram neither extends the prohibition nor infers an FAV exemption from it.
