The German Federal Office for Motor Vehicles (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt, KBA) has given the green light to the semi-autonomous steering system of the Mercedes-Benz brand, which is a subsidiary of Daimler. This paved the way for it to start offering its Drive Pilot system internationally, Reuters reported today.
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The highly automated system allows the driver to concentrate on activities other than driving when a car equipped with this technology is in heavy traffic or on a congested highway, Mercedes-Benz said.
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KBA approved the system on the basis of technical requirements set out in UN regulations. “KBA sets national, European and international road safety standards on the road to autonomous management,” said Richard Damm, president of the office.
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In addition to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) regulations on technical requirements, countries must adopt legislation that clarifies, among other things, where and how such systems can be used.
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KBA has approved a system for driving at speeds of up to 60 kilometers per hour. He has not yet decided whether to allow it for speeds of up to 130 kilometers per hour. Similarly, there was no decision in the case of a lane change assistant that would automate the overtaking of another car.
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“With this milestone, we are once again proving our pioneering work in automated control and at the same time launching a radical paradigm shift,” said Markim Schäfer, Daimler’s CTO. As soon as legislation is in force in China and the United States, Mercedes-Benz will offer the system in these markets, he added.
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Approval in Germany means that Mercedes-Benz can offer customers S-Class cars with the Drive Pilot system in the first half of next year. It should be noted that not only Tesla cars, but also can change the lane automatically and the Mercedes-Benz S-Class of the last generation, at least on Czech roads.
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There are six levels of autonomous vehicles – from zero to five. At zero is a car that has the most ordinary cruise control, at five there is a fully autonomous car – one that does not need a steering wheel or pedals for its function and the person on board does not control it except entering the destination on the display.
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Cars with the second degree of automation are already on the roads. They can accelerate, decelerate and turn, but the driver must be ready to take control of the car at any time. This includes the Tesla brand system, which is misleadingly called Full Self Driving.
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Level 3 automated systems have been approved in Germany since 2017. Mercedes-Benz states that there are more than 13,100 kilometers of motorways suitable for the Drive Pilot system in Germany.
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