I’m not the SAE, I’m just some dude, but imo the current SAE levels for driving automation jump from “driver assistance” to “partial automation” to “conditional automation” without capturing the nuanced progression of capabilities that actually matter for safety and real-world deployment. I propose these more granular levels as a framework that better reflects the technical challenges and safety milestones in the journey toward full autonomy.
Human does everything
Can maintain speed (cruise control) Human controls steering and everything else
Can control speed AND steering simultaneously Requires constant human supervision
Can stay in a single lane on the freeway Handles stop-and-go traffic Can come to complete stop and resume without intervention Has basic object detection (car ahead stopped = stop) CANNOT change lanes or route around obstacles This is where Comma.ai, Blue Cruise, and others are at.
Can change lanes, merge, take exits Can navigate around obstacles by changing lanes Handles all normal highway scenarios autonomously Can pull over safely if confused Will stop instead of running into something.
Can distinguish between critical and harmless obstacles (child vs plastic bag) Understands object physics (ball rolling = child may follow) Can navigate simple urban environments and intersections Can handle parking lots
Can identify and predict behavior of pedestrians, cyclists, children, animals Understands social driving cues (hand waves, eye contact) Can handle construction zones with human flaggers Can navigate complex urban environments in good conditions
Functions in all weather conditions (heavy snow, fog, torrential rain) Can violate traffic laws when necessary for safety Makes complex ethical decisions about least-harm outcomes Handles unmapped roads and novel situations Matches or exceeds best human driver in all scenarios
Level 3 is here, today. Comma.ai very capabily drives me down the freeway with much less cognitive burden. If you spend long amounts of time driving, you should get one. If your car does not support it, upgrade your car. (I’m not being paid to say that, just a happy customer.) It doesn’t integrate with GPS so you’ll miss the freeway exit if you don’t pay attention.
Meanwhile, Waymo is better than 4, but it’s unclear exactly how much further it is. From experience riding in them, the Waymo Driver is already at 5, and some parts of 6.
The industry has come a long way. The argument over LIDAR or not; comma.ai’s abilit to drive on the freeway suggests LIDAR is not as critical as it was back in 2009 when Waymo was the Goolgle self-driving car project.