April 2026 – The Czech Republic has entered a new phase of mobility, aligning itself with other EU Member States, most notably Germany and France. As of 1 January 2026, Czech law permits the operation of SAE Level 3 vehicles, introducing a relatively minimal, framework-based regulation while maintaining the requirement that a human driver must remain present and ready to take control at any time. Although this may resemble full autonomy at first glance, the legal reality remains more conservative.
SAE Level 3 represents conditional automation. The vehicle can perform the dynamic driving task independently, typically in limited environments such as motorways, but the driver must remain in the vehicle and be capable of resuming control within seconds upon system request.
The new legislation allows such vehicles under clearly defined conditions. They must be type-approved under EU and international rules (in particular Regulation (EU) 2019/2144 on general vehicle safety and UN Regulation No. 157 on Automated Lane Keeping Systems (ALKS)). The automated system may operate only within predefined scenarios (i.e. where environmental and infrastructural conditions permit operation and on roads where pedestrians and cyclists are prohibited, such as motorways), and the driver must remain continuously capable of intervention. Importantly, the legal framework does not introduce fully autonomous operation, nor does it remove the driver as the central legal subject.
From a liability perspective, the regulatory approach remains deliberately conservative. Responsibility for compliance with traffic rules continues to be primarily attributed to the driver, although the legislation introduces a mechanism that excludes liability where the automated system performs the driving task. At the same time, the legislation focuses on public law liability (in particular administrative offences of the driver and the operator) and does not address, at least not explicitly, the allocation of civil liability between the driver, manufacturer, or software developer, leaving these questions open.
A notable feature of the Czech approach is that it preserves the traditional concept of the driver even during automated operation, rather than introducing a new legal category such as a “vehicle operator”. This preserves doctrinal continuity, but may at the same time limit the framework’s capacity to fully reflect ongoing technological developments.
Comparative experience shows that these are not merely theoretical concerns. In jurisdictions such as the United States and China, autonomous mobility has already been deployed at scale, exposing new categories of risk that existing legal and regulatory frameworks were not designed to address.
The Czech legislator has thus adopted a regulatory model that is both prag matic and, in certain respects, incomplete. While it enables market entry and provides a basic regulatory framework for operation, the legislation primarily focuses on public law aspects and does not address several broader issues, including accident liability, insurance models, cybersecurity risks, and the handling of vehicle-generated data.
At Kinstellar, we closely monitor these developments through our firmwide automotive team, which brings together expertise across all areas relevant to the sector, including autonomous and connected driving. With a strong presence across Central and Eastern Europe, we are well positioned to track regulatory and technological developments across the region and to support clients navigating this rapidly evolving landscape.