Mercedes has laid down the marker for autonomous technology by saying that it will accept liability when the autonomous drive pilot is engaged. It has introduced its autonomous system on the EQS electric sedan that enables the vehicle to drive at 64 kph or lower on select highways in areas Mercedes has got the approval. This system will handle the car's acceleration, steering and braking.
The German automotive giant is planning to launch Drive Pilot in the US before the end of the year. Mercedes says it is a level 4 autonomous system which means it is superior to what Tesla is offering, even though Elon Musk likes to hype it like full self driving.
The EQS and new S-class both currently feature level 3 autonomous tech.
"By the end of last year, we were the first [automaker] to get international certification for a Level 3 system. We're aiming to get that for California and Nevada by the end of this year, and we're checking a lot of other states as well," said Mercedes Drive Pilot senior development manager Gregor Kugelmann.
While there are many similar systems on the market by various players, Mercedes seems to trust the technology enough to accept legal likability for it. It has been reported that drivers will also not need to play attention on the road and can even use their mobile phones or watch a movie.
In the US, this could work out for Daimler as there are no federal regulations for autonomous driving systems. The system has designed in such a way that if there is an issue, the system disengages.
“I would expect that, here in the United States, some other states may adopt the rules that will be applied by pioneer states like California and Nevada. And then, they'd have maybe two or three specific rules included in their region. But we will probably have to deal with each individual state because of the way you guys are organized as a country,” said Mercedes' vice president of automated driving George Massing.
