From the July 2016 issue
The fully automated car will never happen. We don?t say this because the word ?Driver? is in our name, or because we see the automated car as a threat to our magazine?s existence. We say it for one very simple reason: Automated cars will require closed (yet vulnerable) networks of vehicles in constant communication, and as long as Main Street is a place where there are motorcycles, cyclists, people, and dogs, it will never be a closed network. There will never be an automated dog, much as we find that notion intriguing, and dogs will never be able to communicate with cars. Barking doesn?t count.

THE SIX STAGES:
SAE standard J3016

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NO AUTOMATION

Old-school motoring with a human driver, a steering wheel, and, ideally, a clutch pedal, and an attractive passenger in the right-hand seat.
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DRIVER ASSISTANCE

Steering or braking/acceleration can be performed by the vehicle, based on the environment and the situation. The driver is in control the rest of the time.

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PARTIAL AUTOMATION

Coordinated steering and braking/acceleration are performed automatically by the vehicle, based on the environment and the situation. The driver does the rest of the driving.

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CONDITIONAL AUTOMATION

The vehicle can assume all aspects of the driving task, but the driver will intervene as necessary.

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HIGH AUTOMATION

The vehicle can assume all aspects of the driving task and keeps on doing so if the driver does not respond to intervention prompts.

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FULL AUT...