Mercedes has decided to lead the way for brands like Tesla by assuming legal responsibility in the event that their cars with Drive Pilot suffer an accident as long as the technology is activated at the time of the event. Drive Pilot technology, depending on the situation, can take control of the car’s speed, direction and brakes.
Autonomous driving is one of the pillars on which the automotive industry will be based in the immediate future. The large manufacturers have been researching and developing technologies that allow them to materialize as soon as possible the incorporation of automobiles that offer the capacity for fully autonomous driving into their product offerings. However, this particular race in which the giants of the automotive industry find themselves presents several challenges from the legal field.
Who is legally responsible in the event that an autonomous or semi-autonomous car suffers an accident? Mercedes has answered this determining question to demonstrate its commitment and commitment to this technology, which, as we have pointed out, is key together with electrification and connectivity. In addition, it allows Mercedes to lead the way in this field to some of its most direct rivals, such as Tesla.
Mercedes will take legal responsibility in accidents with Drive Pilot
The Mercedes Drive Pilot technology It is a package of numerous driving assistance systems that, depending on the situation, endows the vehicle with a level of semi-autonomous driving. And it is that, on certain roads, below a certain speed, the Drive Pilot system will be able to take control of the direction, speed and brakes of the car.
Unlike other driving assistants that offer similar functionality, once the Drive Pilot system is activated, the driver will no longer be legally responsible in the event of an accident. A legal responsibility that will fall back on the driver once the system is deactivated and full control over it is recovered.
this distinction puts the Mercedes system miles ahead of Tesla’s AutoPilot or General Motors’ SuperCruise. And most importantly, it is not an experimental or development technology, it has already been approved for use on German highways and Mercedes is waiting to be able to implement it in the United States by the end of this year. A technology available for both the Mercedes S-Class and the Mercedes EQS.
United States regulations with autonomous driving
Gregor Kugelmann, Director of Development at Drive Pilot, highlighted the significant progress made to date: “At the end of last year, we were the first car manufacturer to achieve international certification for a level 3 autonomous driving system. is to get that for the states of California and Nevada by the end of this year, and we’re looking at a lot of other states as well.”
The United States has few federal regulations related to autonomous driving. Each state has its own legislation in this regard, and therefore decides which companies, if any, are approved to operate semi-autonomous or autonomous vehicles on public roads. Mercedes’ willingness to accept legal responsibility for its semi-autonomous vehicles will surely contribute to its ability to satisfy various state regulators.
It’s important to put attention on, In order to deliver legal responsibility to Mercedes, a series of very particular circumstances must be met. Drive Pilot can only be activated on limited-access divided highways without traffic lights, roundabouts, or other traffic control systems, and without work zones. In addition, the roads must be previously mapped by Mercedes. The system will only work during the day and in optimal weather conditions. And logically, while the system is in operation, the driver cannot take a nap.
DrivePilot it has been designed to give drivers a 10-second warning before disconnecting. Mercedes engineers had to ensure that the system would return control of the vehicle to the driver safely and without fail. In Germany it is possible to use the mobile phone while the Drive Pilot system is activated, which is a novelty for this type of technology.
Source: road and track