When a new thing is born, there will always be many doubts, just like when electric vehicles have just started, everyone questions the battery life, questions charging, and changes the future way of travel. When the concept of automatic driving was introduced, people were amazed by the progress of scientific and technological development, and at the same time questioned what to do if such a dangerous thing happened to an accident, who should be responsible? At that time, car companies did not dare to pack tickets to guarantee. But now, the first car company to dare to eat crabs has arrived, and it is Mercedes-Benz.
On March 23, according to the Financial Associated Press, Mercedes-Benz announced that when Mercedes-Benz car drivers equipped with Drive Pilot turned on the vehicle's advanced driver assistance system, they were no longer legally responsible for the operation of the car. In the event of a car accident, Mercedes-Benz will bear the relevant responsibility.
Gregor Kugelmann, senior development manager at Drive Pilot, said, "Our goal is to launch autonomous driving services in California and Nevada by the end of 2022, and consultations will also be held in other states on the matter." ”
What is the Drive Pilot system?
It is the first internationally recognized effective L3 level autonomous driving system.
What does that mean? That is to say, because the Drive Pilot system meets the requirements of the global automotive regulation No. 157, it has obtained the world's first approval for "conditional automatic" driving on German highways, and naturally, Mercedes-Benz has become the world's first car company to have an internationally recognized L3 level autonomous driving system.
It is understood that the Mercedes-Benz DRIVE PILOT automatic driving system uses a stereoscopic multi-eye camera, microphone, ultrasonic radar, lidar, humidity sensor, special color sensor, while receiving real-time information from high-definition maps, and equipped with a redundant system, which can ensure that it can still maintain normal operation after a system failure.
"In conditional autonomous driving, DRIVE PILOT will allow drivers to divert their attention from traffic and focus on certain secondary activities, whether it's communicating with colleagues through the on-board office, surfing the Internet, or relaxing while watching a movie, in DRIVE PILOT mode, people can enable apps on the vehicle's integrated centre display to browse, but these apps are stopped while driving," Mercedes-Benz said. ”
Of course, because it is the automatic driving of L3, there are still certain restrictions and safety guarantees.
First, drive Pilot isn't always capable of autonomous driving, the system only supports turning on congested highways at speeds below 40 mph (about 64.3 km/h), and if the speed exceeds the approved limit, the vehicle switches back to normal driving operations.
Second, the Drive Pilot system issues a 10-second warning before it is about to shut down, so that the driver can take over the vehicle in time when the road is not suitable for L3 autonomous driving.
And Drive Pilot also has a safety system that informs the driver when the vehicle needs to be regained control by humans, and if the driver fails to regain control of the car for any reason ,including a medical emergency), the vehicle's braking system will bring the car to a halt in a controlled manner, while also activating the hazard lights (Mercedes-Benz has an emergency call system that automatically contacts first responders), and the doors and windows of the vehicle will be unlocked so that first responders can more easily access.
It is reported that Mercedes-Benz plans to take the lead in applying L3 level autonomous driving technology models to the new generation of S-class and EQS.
The first car company to be officially declared responsible
What is the point of driverless driving? In 2016, then-US President Barack Obama wrote in the Pittsburgh Post that as the highest level of autonomous driving, driverless driving is considered to have great prospects for intelligent travel to alleviate traffic congestion and reduce negligent accidents. "Autonomous vehicles have the potential to save tens of thousands of people every year," he said. Not to mention, we currently have too many elderly and disabled people who can't drive, and self-driving vehicles will be able to change their lives. ”
I still remember when I was reporting on the relevant topics, I sorted out a few questions that the industry was more concerned about: how to develop new autonomous driving traffic regulations? What are the standards for driverless cars on the road? If an accident occurs, who should pay for it? Whether consumers are confident about the electronic system, whether personal information will be leaked, etc.
After 5 years, the question of who is responsible has finally been answered. Mercedes-Benz became the first company to be officially responsible for the accident.
Significantly different from Mercedes-Benz's approach is Tesla, Tesla CEO Elon Musk often speaks on social media about his AutoPilot, but before the news revealed that a Model S driver had driven an Autopilot at high speed ignoring red lights, and did not take over the vehicle, and finally collided with a Honda car, causing two passengers in the latter car to die on the spot, and the cause of this accident was the improper use of L2 autopilot.
After the accident, Tesla did not show the intention of being responsible, but responded that AutoPilot and FSDs that are still under development are not yet autopilot systems.
Zhang Xiang, professor and dean of the Automotive Analyst Research Institute, said that Mercedes-Benz is relatively low-key in the field of automatic driving, and the start is relatively late, like Tesla, Xiaopeng, and GM are relatively high-profile, but they have not dared to take responsibility, especially Tesla's car crashes due to automatic driving, but until now, Tesla has not announced that it is responsible for a traffic accident, and although Mercedes-Benz's automatic driving function has many limitations, after all, he has taken the first step, and can let the driver really feel the automatic driving.
What's the point?
Automotive industry analyst Zhong Shi said: In fact, the government has always been cautious about the use of L3 level autonomous driving, because if the relevant government laws are not clear, once the accident occurs, the division of liability can not be obtained, involving insurance companies, users' civil claims and manufacturers' responsibilities, because the inability to comply will become very confusing. At this time, it depends on the enterprise and the government who takes the first step, there are always people who bear this matter, otherwise consumers spend a lot of money to buy this, and they cannot rest assured that it will be open to use.
Because the current application of automatic driving stuck in the L3 level, if the law is not clear, it is more unrealistic to push L4 and L5 level automatic driving, so L3 is a very important node. Mercedes-Benz first applied and made a commitment, which not only broke the current government's dilemma, but also increased consumer trust.
At the same time, Zhong Shi said that Mercedes-Benz's move has formed a relatively large pressure on other automakers, because manufacturers must have considerable confidence and strong technology to support them. However, he believes that there should not be many companies to follow up, because this means that once there is a problem, the manufacturer must bear all the economic compensation, and not all companies have this courage.
From the consumer's point of view, Zhang Xiang also said that Mercedes-Benz's move is a very meaningful thing, because it can make the owner really feel the function of automatic driving, like Tesla, BMW launched the automatic driving function is actually quasi-automatic driving, it still needs the driver's hands can not leave the steering wheel for a long time, the eyes should look ahead, this is not really automatic driving, and Mercedes-Benz's Drive Pilot system is to give the control of automatic driving to the car, the owner can move freely, This is the real autonomous driving.
Finally, he also stressed that Mercedes-Benz's car equipped with the Drive Pilot system is not yet on the market, and it is planned to be launched in the first half of this year, for which he said he will wait and see.
It can be expected that whether it is the first car company with an internationally recognized L3 level automatic driving system or the first car company to take responsibility for automatic driving accidents, these two achievements will become a bellwether in the field of automatic driving, and we will wait and see the performance of the system after mass production and application.