Max Spaghetti
Member
Actually that's Level 4, in my interpretation. Level 5 is just the same thing without ODD restrictions.Level 5 automation is no steering wheel, accelerator, or brake pedal. All humans are passengers.
Level 3 basically describes a car equipped with controls that can be used outside the ODD, but doesn't need to be monitored inside the ODD.
Waymo (and any robo-taxi with controls) is probably a special case that is effectively a Level 3 vehicle for a staff member who is authorised to use the controls (or remotely assist), but effectively a Level 4 for a regular passenger who is not.
Level 5 would make more sense if it was defined as "can drive in any situation in which an average human could reasonably be expected to drive". It shouldn't have to be "super-human" to be classed as Level 5. There will always be corner-cases though. A great example is a grass field which has been temporary turned into a car park for a special event. There are marshalers guiding traffic to park in neat lines, but there are no line markings. For a car to be Level 5 (or even Level 4 without controls), it will have to be able to comply with the marshalers verbal or hand signals and park. Problems like that are hard to solve.
This is why I believe that private vehicles will remain defined as Level 3, while Level 4 without controls is the realm of the robo-taxi.