Mercedes-Benz is forging ahead with its autonomous driving, including new marker lights.
On Tuesday, Mercedes-Benz announced it received regulatory approval from two U.S. state governments for special lights signifying its Level 3 semi-autonomous system called Drive Pilot. California and Nevada both signed off on allowing the automaker to use turquoise-colored market lights in their EQS and S-Class sedans to alert other drivers that the cars are operating in hands-free, semi-autonomous mode. Using the Society of Automotive Engineers’ J3134 recommendations, the lights are integrated into the front and rear lights as well as the outside mirrors, but come in a markedly different color to set them apart from the white, amber and red lights motorists normally associate with everyday driving.
While it’s just available in two states for the moment, several companies including Mercedes have ambitions to expand their semi-autonomous driving systems nationwide. To that end, the company keenly pointed out in its announcement that it is (again, for now) the only SAE Level 3 autonomous system in the U.S. market. Level 3, for reference, does not mean fully autonomous operation. Instead, it alludes to a step above systems like Super Cruise and Tesla Autopilot in that they have “environmental detection” capability and will actually make decisions based on the situation without human input. However, a human must still be present in the driver’s seat and can override the system at any time, so we’re not talking about taking humans completely out of the mix yet.
The first Drive Pilot-equipped cars will make their way out to California customers as early as next year. In Nevada, however, the permit only applies to production-spec EQS and S-Class vehicles in the 2026 model year, and will continue until the state legislature makes an appropriate “statutory modification”. In fact, several states and the U.S. Department of Transportation alike are grappling with changing the law as automated driving systems mature.
“With the development of automated driving marker lights, Mercedes-Benz is once again setting new industry standards,” said Mercedes-Benz Group technology chief Markus Schäfer. “The more automated driving vehicles populate the road, the more important communication and interaction between the vehicle and the environment become.”
Whether we’ll see widespread adoption of Mercedes’ solution will depend on changes to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). We still don’t have fully adaptive headlights or cameras replacing traditional door mirrors yet, as changing the standards requires congressional approval. The USDOT may then change the game with their own rulemaking, meaning we could see standardization of Mercedes’ turquoise marker lights or another system entirely.
As ever, we’ll have to wait and see.
