Mercedes has already started sales of its advanced “DrivePilot” autonomous driving system. The star brand is consolidated as the first European manufacturer to reach level 3 fully legal, benefiting from the new UN resolution that considerably increases the maximum operating speed limit.
Level 3 autonomous driving will be legal in Europe from next summer, although it will be the member countries that will allow its operation within their territory and under what circumstances and roads. The first country that already has permission for this advanced functionality is Germanywhere the star brand has also emerged as the first European manufacturer to put the advanced “DrivePilot” driving system on the market.
Mercedes will now benefit from the new resolution that the United Nations Economic Commission (UNECE) has presented in a draft that will be the central axis of the next meeting with the member countries, and in which they will vote for its validation. This draft is an amendment to the autonomous driving regulations approved by this body, by which allows to increase the maximum operating speed from 60 to 130 km/hin addition to considering other issues for future models equipped with this sophisticated technology that will increase in the coming years.
Level 3 autonomous driving pushes your boundaries
And it is that the announcement about the permissiveness of use of the system strictly limited its functionality to a freeway jam assistantso this new exemption will allow the application of the system to be verified under normal traffic conditions, only in highways and expressways, where pedestrians and cyclists cannot accessand where the roads have a different number of lanes in opposite directions physically separatedso that more conventional roads are left out of the use of the system.
These are essential requirements level 3 will allow the system to make lane changes and, therefore, automated overtaking. The amendment has not altered other safety provisions, so the driver will keep their attention on the road to take the controls when the system requires it. Something that can be at any time without the need to detect a malfunction of the different sensors, software or the system.
This new proposal will be voted on in just a few days, between June 21 and 24, taking advantage of the World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations of this United Nations body, and where more than 50 countries are also represented, including China and the United States, despite the fact that the one on the other side of the Atlantic and the Asian They have their own regulations.. Despite this circumstance, it represents a very important advance to verify its validity and the number of traffic accidents is reduced. In Europe, it will now be Germany’s turn to modify its circulation regulations and admit or not the new maximum speed.
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