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UNECE paves the way for L3

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Do people really want Tesla to do Level 3 at the moment? This is the first level where the car is responsible and the driver can stop concentrating on whats happening. There is no chance I'd be happy with that based on my experience of our version of AP or what I've seen in the US beta. It might be good, but it ain't that good

Tesla could already offer level 3 on motorways at lower speed as a traffic jam assist type feature like Merc do, but they've chosen not to.

The crux of level 3 is understanding in good time when the car needs to hand back control to the driver, thats not a trivial ask. The system can't simply abort and say "over to you guv".. they need to say "would you please take over in 5 to 10 seconds otherwise I'll need to do a controlled stop".
 
I'd just be happy if they let us have FSD Beta - as watching videos on it, even with all its mistakes, puts it far and away above the supposed FSD that I currently have.

But I just can't see it....I mean we got nerfed a few weeks ago to stop the car from being able to exit the motorway by itself due to some legislation that it was running foul of.

So its not allowed to change lanes by itself
Its not allowed to change lanes too long after indicating
Its not allowed to turn the wheel more than 10 degrees or whatever the specific amount is.

Our government talks about wanting to be at the forefront of self driving vehicles, yet seems to do nothing to achieve it.
 
Well, with everything mentioned above, we still need the legislation changes to take place before we ever will see any of the technology used on British and European roads. The most important part of this first step is to have all the laws and regulations amended to approve the use of more automated driving. I'm UK, the first step will be the approval for ALKS-enabled cars to let us use the system in speeds below 37 mph on motorways. An important part of this is also to truly removing the responsibility for the driver in case of an accident caused by these systems. Until then, you would never get to the point where you truly can take your hands off the wheel. I totally agree that these changes does not make the technology available over night but they at least will open the door for car manufacturers to start investing in getting their cars approved for more advanced drive assist features. Without the changes, you will never see any of these technologies advancing.

Even the initial step here in UK with the "traffic-jam chauffeur" sounds really good to me and is a sensible first step in the long legislative process for approvals to using autonomous cars.
 
The number of driver assist aids/features and becoming level 3 are often mixed up

This article seems to explain it, the Mercedes EQS L3 motorway cruise thing is low on feature count as it’s literally just a lane keep and speed control system on driving features but it is wrapped with the safeguards and hand off features to and from the driver and who takes accountability.


Things like taking an exit is a feature Tesla has but at level 2, and the recent change is really just to make it consistent with it's other lane change operation. Tesla seem set on a complete feature stack but that doesn’t move you towards level 3 at all as Mercedes have shown, it's more like they're trying to shoot straight for level 4 if not level 5 if you believe the robotaxi rhetoric. In human terms Tesla seem to be trying to run without learning to walk in terms of driving accountability.

I have read variations of this over the years, see this as a number of steps rather than shoot for the end goal in one and the next highly valuable step for me would be motorway level 3 driving at the speed limit. These regulations are allowing that. I'm quite happy to drive to the motorway, and if I could then get the car to drive for the next hour until I get off the motorway it would be beneficial to a lot of people. I'd give that over L2 city street driving I still need to supervise for the next 5 years. Urban self driving will be a massive advantage to me when I'm no longer able to drive myself through old age and infirmity rather than it being seen as safer than the average driver. Hopefully Tesla still have 30 years to do that for me.
 
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The number of driver assist aids/features and becoming level 3 are often mixed up

This article seems to explain it, the Mercedes EQS L3 motorway cruise thing is low on feature count as it’s literally just a lane keep and speed control system on driving features but it is wrapped with the safeguards and hand off features to and from the driver and who takes accountability.


Things like taking an exit is a feature Tesla has but at level 2, and the recent change is really just to make it consistent with it's other lane change operation. Tesla seem set on a complete feature stack but that doesn’t move you towards level 3 at all as Mercedes have shown, it's more like they're trying to shoot straight for level 4 if not level 5 if you believe the robotaxi rhetoric. In human terms Tesla seem to be trying to run without learning to walk in terms of driving accountability.

I have read variations of this over the years, see this as a number of steps rather than shoot for the end goal in one and the next highly valuable step for me would be motorway level 3 driving at the speed limit. These regulations are allowing that. I'm quite happy to drive to the motorway, and if I could then get the car to drive for the next hour until I get off the motorway it would be beneficial to a lot of people. I'd give that over L2 city street driving I still need to supervise for the next 5 years. Urban self driving will be a massive advantage to me when I'm no longer able to drive myself through old age and infirmity rather than it being seen as safer than the average driver. Hopefully Tesla still have 30 years to do that for me.
The linked article is one of the best, and simplest, explanations of the various autonomy levels I’ve seen. It does seem to me that if Tesla won’t / can’t get approval for the level 3 ‘motorway traffic jam chauffeur’ and other suppliers do, they will lose all credibility in terms of providing ‘FSD’. I rather naively assumed that this facility would soon be rolled out as a minor software update to basic autopilot. On the face of it, all that is required is to remove the requirement for steering wheel nags with autopilot engaged on appropriate roads below 37mph. Of course, it’s a lot more complicated than this, not least because of the insurance implications if the person in the driving seat isn’t driving.