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This document provides guidelines for the safe conduct of on-road tests of vehicles equipped with prototype conditional, high, and full (levels 3-5) automated driving systems (ADSs), as defined by SAE J3016. It does not include guidance for testing production ADSs intended for sale to the general public. The scope is further limited to testing of automated prototype vehicles on public roads. These guidelines do not address: Testing of driver assist (Level 1) or partial (Level 2) automation systems, which rely on a human driver to monitor the environment. (See SAE J3016 for Definitions of Levels of Automated Systems.) Closed-course testing. Component-level testing. The precise regime of road testing for a particular prototype will depend on the intended level of automation and the targeted capabilities of the prototype (see SAE J3016 for more information).

This document provides a high-level ontology and lexicon for describing on-road ADS-operated vehicle behavioral competencies and driving maneuvers that comprise routine/normal performance of the complete DDT, as defined in SAE J3016. It provides definitions of behavior, maneuver, scenario, and scene. This initial high-level lexicon and ontology are developed for ADS driving behaviors, including considerations for hierarchy of behaviors, and relationships among maneuvers, operational design domain (ODD) elements, and object and event detection and response (OEDR). Considerations for describing scenarios using this lexicon and ontology are discussed. This document describes ADS-operated vehicle motion control maneuvers during routine/normal operation. Maneuvers of other road users are not evaluated. This document assumes left-hand drive vehicles and road infrastructure.

This document provides guidelines for the safe conduct of on-road tests of vehicles equipped with prototype conditional, high, and full (levels 3-5) automated driving systems (ADSs), as defined by SAE J3016. It does not include guidance for testing production ADSs intended for sale to the general public. The scope is further limited to testing of automated prototype vehicles on public roads. These guidelines do not address: Testing of driver assist (Level 1) or partial (Level 2) automation systems, which rely on a human driver to monitor the environment. (See SAE J3016 for Definitions of Levels of Automated Systems.) Closed-course testing. Component-level testing. The precise regime of road testing for a particular prototype will depend on the intended level of automation and the targeted capabilities of the prototype (see SAE J3016 for more information).

It is expected that Level 4 and 5 automated driving systems-dedicated vehicles (ADS-DVs) will eventually enable persons to travel at will who are otherwise unable to obtain a driver's license for a conventional vehicle, namely, persons with certain visual, cognitive, and/or physical impairments. This information report focuses on these disabilities, but also provides guidance for those with other disabilities. This report is limited to fleet operated on-demand shared mobility scenarios, as this is widely considered to be the first way people will be able to interact with ADS-DVs. To be more specific, this report does not address fixed route transit services or private vehicle ownership. Similarly, this report is focused on road-worthy vehicles; not scooters, golf carts, etc.

This Information Report provides a taxonomy for motor vehicle automation ranging in level from no automation to full automation. However, it provides detailed definitions only for the highest three levels of automation provided in the taxonomy (namely, conditional, high and full automation) in the context of motor vehicles (hereafter also referred to as “vehicle” or “vehicles”) and their operation on public roadways. These latter levels of advanced automation refer to cases in which the dynamic driving task is performed entirely by an automated driving system during a given driving mode or trip. Popular, media, and legislative references to “autonomous” or “self-driving” vehicles encompass some or all of these levels of automation. These definitions can be used to describe the automation of (1) on-road vehicles, (2) particular systems within those vehicles, and (3) the operation of those vehicles.

This Recommended Practice provides a taxonomy for motor vehicle driving automation systems that perform part or all of the dynamic driving task (DDT) on a sustained basis and that range in level from no driving automation (level 0) to full driving automation (level 5). It provides detailed definitions for these six levels of driving automation in the context of motor vehicles (hereafter also referred to as “vehicle” or “vehicles”) and their operation on roadways. These level definitions, along with additional supporting terms and definitions provided herein, can be used to describe the full range of driving automation features equipped on motor vehicles in a functionally consistent and coherent manner.

This SAE Recommended Practice describes motor vehicle driving automation systems that perform part or all of the dynamic driving task (DDT) on a sustained basis. It provides a taxonomy with detailed definitions for six levels of driving automation, ranging from no driving automation (level 0) to full driving automation (level 5), in the context of motor vehicles (hereafter also referred to as “vehicle” or “vehicles”) and their operation on roadways. These level definitions, along with additional supporting terms and definitions provided herein, can be used to describe the full range of driving automation features equipped on motor vehicles in a functionally consistent and coherent manner.