Mercedes is still waiting for approval from German regulators before it can roll out a software update to customers of vehicles that support Drive Pilot. But once that happens, the company boasts that it will have “the world's fastest Level 3 system in a production vehicle.”
Drive Pilot is similar to “hands-free” highway driving systems such as GM's Super Cruise, Ford's BlueCruise and Tesla's Autopilot in that it allows the driver to take their hands off the wheel and their foot off the pedal under certain conditions. It's currently only legal in two U.S. states: California and Nevada. But unlike Level 2 systems, which require the driver to keep their eyes on the road, Mercedes' Level 3 system offers a little more freedom.
This includes allowing drivers to take their eyes off the road and focus on something else, such as a game or a movie, under certain conditions. For Drive Pilot to work, the following must be present: a vehicle in front of your car; reasonable road conditions with legible markings and lines; clear weather and optimal lighting conditions. If one or more of these conditions are not met, Drive Pilot cannot be used.
Mercedes originally marketed Drive Pilot as an ideal feature for stop-and-go traffic. Let the car do the driving so you can check your phone or turn it off. If you need to regain control of the vehicle, the system will warn you in time.
But by increasing the top speed, Mercedes now seems keen to sell Drive Pilot as the ideal semi-autonomous system for driving in general. The company sees the system as a stepping stone to fully autonomous driving.
Drivers are adept at circumventing the rules
But according to a recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, drivers are cleverly skirting the rules governing driver assistance systems. And although Mercedes claims that drivers can't fall asleep or climb into the back seat while using Drive Pilot, some will certainly try anyway. And when a car is traveling at much higher speeds than before, it only takes a fraction of a second for something to go wrong.
Studies have shown that the handover between an automated system and a human driver can be particularly tricky. When people are away from the wheel for long periods of time, they may overreact when suddenly taking control in an emergency situation. They may overcorrect the steering, brake too hard, or fail to react properly because they weren't paying attention. These actions can create a domino effect that can be dangerous and potentially even fatal.
Most companies that pursue fully autonomous driving, such as Waymo and Cruise, consider Level 3 to be too dangerous and prefer to work exclusively on Level 4 technology, which completely removes the driver from the game.
Mercedes is in the process of getting approval for turquoise marker lights that will illuminate on headlights, taillights and side mirrors to let other drivers know the Level 3 system is in use. The company says the top speed for “conditionally automated driving” in Germany is 130 km/h and is expected to be reached by the end of the decade.