SAE Level 3 Remains A Challenge

My latest Forbes article analyzes SAE’s recent redefinition of its six-level autonomy taxonomy.

“…it’s basically consistent with how the SAE previously defined Level 3: the human passenger isn’t ‘driving’, but has to be ready to take control of the vehicle when the system asks.

That leaves a fair bit of ambiguity, especially about how quickly the human must ‘receive’ requests to intervene. That, in turn raises the quest of how broad the range of other tasks is in which the human can engage, while still allowing enough time to take control if the system requires.”

I think that ultimately vehicle manufacturers will define Level 3 differently in practice. Read the whole thing.