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AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES
LEVELS OF AUTONOMY
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) policy adopted SAE International’s
(SAE) definitions for levels of automation. SAE outlines six levels of vehicle automation, from
Level 0 (No Automation) to Level 5 (Full Automation). The levels are distinguished by how active
the driver must be in controlling the vehicle and monitoring the roadway during operation. 1213
LEVEL
0
LEVEL
1
LEVEL
2
NO AUTOMATION
The driver is in full control of all aspects of the vehicle’s primary
functions at all times.
FUNCTION-SPECIFIC PARTIAL AUTOMATION
An automated system that can assist parts of the driving task, such as controlling
speed, braking, or steering, for part of the time. Many drivers are already familiar
with this level of automation, which includes cruise control and automatic braking.
FUNCTION-SPECIFIC FULL AUTOMATION
This level of automation enables a part of the driving to be entirely automated,
with the human playing an active monitoring role. An example of this would be
automatic parking, which automates an entire driving activity.
FUNCTION-SPECIFIC FULL AWARENESS AUTOMATION
LEVEL
3
LEVEL
4
LEVEL
5
GOVLINK » ISSUE 2 2017
This level of automation is aware of the environment around the vehicle, and can
fully automate and monitor some parts of the driving. For these activities, the
human driver must be ready to take back control, but is not
actively monitoring every aspect of the driving. An example of this is the most
advanced form of lane keeping assist in combination with radar cruise control.
ENVIRONMENT-SPECIFIC FULL AUTOMATION
The driver is no longer expected to constantly monitor driving or the driving
environment, but the automated system can only operate in certain environments
and under certain conditions. An example of this would be highway-only automation.
FULL AUTOMATION
The automated system can perform all driving and monitoring functions in
all environments.