This document describes [motor]
vehicle driving automation system
s that perform part or all of the
dynamic driving task
(
DDT
) on a
sustained
basis. It provides a taxonomy with detailed definitions for six levels of
driving automation
, ranging from no
driving automation
(Level 0) to full
driving automation
(Level 5), in the context of [motor]
vehicles
(hereafter also referred to as “
vehicle
” or “
vehicles
”) and their
operation
on roadways:
Level 0:
No Driving Automation
Level 1:
Driver Assistance
Level 2:
Partial Driving Automation
Level 3:
Conditional Driving Automation
Level 4:
High Driving Automation
Level 5:
Full Driving Automation
These level definitions, along with additional supporting terms and definitions provided herein, can be used to describe the full range of
driving automation features
equipped on [motor]
vehicles
in a functionally consistent and coherent manner. “On-road” refers to publicly accessible roadways (including parking areas and private campuses that permit public access) that collectively serve all road
users
, including cyclists, pedestrians, and
users
of
vehicles
with and without
driving automation features
.
The levels apply to the
driving automation feature
(s) that are engaged in any given instance of on-road
operation
of an equipped
vehicle
. As such, although a given
vehicle
may be equipped with a
driving automation system
that is capable of delivering multiple
driving automation features
that perform at different levels, the level of
driving automation
exhibited in any given instance is determined by the
feature
(s) that are engaged.
This document also refers to three primary actors in driving: the (human)
user
, the
driving automation system
, and other
vehicle
systems and components. These other
vehicle
systems and components (or the
vehicle
in general terms) do not include the
driving automation system
in this model, even though as a practical matter a
driving automation system
may actually share hardware and software components with other
vehicle
systems, such as a processing module(s) or
operating
code.
The levels of
driving automation
are defined by reference to the specific role played by each of the three primary actors in performance of the
DDT
and/or
DDT fallback
. “Role” in this context refers to the expected role of a given primary actor, based on the design of the
driving automation system
in question and not necessarily to the actual performance of a given primary actor. For example, a
driver
who fails to monitor the roadway during engagement of a Level 1 adaptive cruise control (ACC) system still has the role of
driver
, even while s/he is neglecting it.
Active safety systems
, such as electronic stability control (ESC) and automatic emergency braking (AEB), and certain types of
driver
assistance systems, such as lane keeping assistance (LKA), are excluded from the scope of this
driving automation
taxonomy because they do not perform part or all of the
DDT
on a
sustained
basis, but rather provide momentary intervention during potentially hazardous situations. Due to the momentary nature of the actions of
active safety systems
, their intervention does not change or eliminate the role of the
driver
in performing part or all of the
DDT
, and thus are not considered to be
driving automation
, even though they perform automated functions. In addition, systems that inform, alert, or warn the
driver
about hazards in the driving environment are also outside the scope of this
driving automation
taxonomy, as they neither automate part or all of the
DDT
, nor change the
driver
’s role in performance of the
DDT
(see
8.13
).
It should be noted, however, that crash avoidance
features
, including intervention-type
active safety systems
, may be included in
vehicles
equipped with
driving automation system
s at any level. For
automated driving system
(
ADS
)
features
(i.e., Levels 3 to 5) that perform the complete
DDT
, crash mitigation and avoidance capability is part of
ADS
functionality
(see also
8.13
).