SAE J3016

The SAE J3016 standard describes the classification and definition of terms for road-bound motor vehicles with systems for automated driving . It was published by SAE International (formerly: Society of Automotive Engineers) and has been in effect since January 2014. The classification has six levels and describes their minimum requirements. Depending on the equipment and its use in a vehicle, it can switch between the levels.

Classification according to automation levels (level)

The standard classifies automated driving in six levels:

SAE level	Surname	description	Cross and longitudinal guidance	Environment observation	Fallback level
Level 0	No Automation (No Automation)	The driver drives independently, even if supporting systems (e.g. ABS or ESP ) are in place.	driver	driver	no
step 1	Driver Assistance (assistance systems)	Driver assistance systems help to operate the vehicle with longitudinal or lateral guidance (including ACC ).	Driver and System	driver	driver
Level 2	Partial Automation (partial automation)	One or more driver assistance systems help to operate the vehicle with longitudinal and simultaneous lateral guidance.	system	driver	driver
level 3	Conditional Automation (Conditional automation)	Automated driving with the expectation that the driver must respond to a request to intervene.	system	system	driver
Level 4	High Automation (high automation)	Automated guidance of the vehicle without the expectation that the driver will react to a request for intervention. The vehicle continues to steer automatically without human reaction.	system	system	system
Level 5	Full Automation (full automation)	Fully automated driving in which the dynamic driving task is carried out under all road and environmental conditions that can also be mastered by a human driver.	system	system	system

The standard has adopted the division of the “Legal Consequences of Increasing Vehicle Automation” working group of the Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt) and expanded it to include Level 5 (driverless driving) listed above .

Web links

SAE J3016 Standards Collection on the Web

Individual evidence

↑ SAE International: AUTOMATED DRIVING LEVELS OF DRIVING AUTOMATION ARE DEFINED IN NEW SAE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD J3016. (PDF; 84 KB) (No longer available online.) P. 2 , archived from the original on September 9, 2014 ; accessed on April 30, 2020 (English).
↑ SAE J3016-Jun2018, Chapter 5.5, Note 1, page 25
↑ Tom M. Gasser et al .: Legal consequences of increasing vehicle automation. Research compact 11/12. In: Reports of the Federal Highway Research Institute, sub-series “Vehicle Safety”, Issue F 83. Federal Highway Research Institute , January 2012, accessed on May 17, 2019 .

[1] SAE International: AUTOMATED DRIVING LEVELS OF DRIVING AUTOMATION ARE DEFINED IN NEW SAE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD J3016. (PDF; 84 KB) (No longer available online.) P. 2 , archived from the original on September 9, 2014 ; accessed on April 30, 2020 (English).

[2] SAE J3016-Jun2018, Chapter 5.5, Note 1, page 25

[3] Tom M. Gasser et al .: Legal consequences of increasing vehicle automation. Research compact 11/12. In: Reports of the Federal Highway Research Institute, sub-series “Vehicle Safety”, Issue F 83. Federal Highway Research Institute , January 2012, accessed on May 17, 2019 .