Mercedes to be responsible for crashes involving Drive Pilot system

Mercedes’ admission that it is prepared to take legal responsibility for accidents involving its cars when Level 3 Self-Driving mode is engaged has reignited the debate on legislation and guidelines for autonomous vehicles.

The German automaker has attracted worldwide headlines following its assertion that it will accept blame if a fault with its Drive Pilot system – fitted to the S-Class and EQS saloons – causes an accident.

Mercedes is the first car manufacturer to make such a commitment, creating a line of distinction between its system and Level 2 set-ups such as General Motors’ Super Cruise or Tesla’s AutoPilot. However, the commitment comes with qualifications; Mercedes added that if a driver “fails to comply with their duty of care” – such as not taking control of a vehicle fitted with Drive Pilot when prompted – the responsibility for any accident would lie with them instead.

In use, Drive Pilot allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel and let the car take control of key functions. Currently, it has been approved for use within geofenced parts of the German highway network at speeds just under 40 mph.

But its wider introduction is coming sooner than you might think, with Drive Pilot senior development manager Gregor Kugelmann telling Road & Track, that by the end of 2021, it was the first automaker to get international certification for a Level 3 system. “We’re aiming to get that for California and Nevada by the end of this year, and we’re checking a lot of other states as well,” he said.

However, because the U.S. has very little federal legislation to deal with automated or semi-automated driving, Mercedes anticipates having to negotiate with individual states to develop a suitable framework.

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