Mercedes-Benz USA will assume legal responsibility for all traffic incidents caused by its Drive Pilot system, Senior System Developer Gregor Kugelmann promised in an interview to Road&Track.
The company plans to make its semi-autonomous driving solution road-legal in the United States later this year, having already obtained such permissions in Germany. The tests will be limited to California and Nevada at first, but the company hopes to expand them nationwide eventually.
The bold claim of responsibility is backed by the intelligence of the self-driving tech Mercedes is working on. As an SAE Level 3 system, it is supposed to let drivers remove their hands from the steering wheel and divert their eyes from the road from time to time. There are strict conditions when it can be done, but it is still a major step forward from all other self-driving technologies currently in use in the USA. Even the best solutions by General Motors and Tesla are classified under SAE Level 2, which implies that drivers must continually monitor the situation and be able to intercept controls at the first sign of danger.
As such, what Mercedes is really trying to accomplish in the USA is break through the legal barrier of deciding which party shall take responsibility for the self-driving accidents. By taking it up themselves, the Germans hope to speed up the adoption process of this technology nationwide.