The U.S. Department of Transportation has defined five levels of autonomous driving capability. The subtle distinctions between “autonomous driving” and” driver assist functions” are important and convey very different sets of expectations to customers. Most experts reckon that the Tesla Autopilot sits somewhere between Level 2 and Level 3, which means the car is capable of some degree of autonomous driving but has many limitations. While many U.S. states have taken positions on where and how fully autonomous cars may be used or tested, they have been unable to address use and deployment of partial autonomous capability including parking assist, autonomous valet and autonomous lane tracking. Evolution of technologies and human assimilation of new capabilities occur incrementally, leaving us to deal with periods of ambiguity and many shades of grey.

Source: The Hindu July 17, 2016 17:38 UTC