Both permits allow Mercedes-Benz to gain insights into the interaction of automated vehicles and other road users, Mercedes said, claiming that they could “substantially enhance public acceptance of automated driving and contribute to road safety, as the lights clearly visualize the automated driving system’s status on the exterior.”

They let traffic law enforcement and police officers identify the system’s status and determine whether drivers are permitted to engage in secondary activities during the conditionally automated journey. Designed in accordance with SAE J3134 Recommended Practice, the turquoise-colored marker lights for automated driving in California are integrated into the front and rear lights as well as the two outside mirrors in Mercedes-Benz test vehicles.

Two “essential criteria” contributed to the turquoise color choice:

• Its visibility allows reliable and fast detection for other road users, and it offers differentiation from existing vehicle lighting and traffic signals such as traffic lights or emergency lighting. As a result, the possibility of confusion with already existing lighting colors may be reduced significantly.
• In addition, according to the findings of numerous test studies, turquoise is the optimal color for automated driving. Both physiological and psychological factors attest to higher values in almost all areas with turquoise rather than with other colors. Turquoise is also described in the industry-recommend practice SAE J3134 “ADS Marker Lamps” for use to display activation of an automated driving system. The development and approval of the new lighting concept involved collaborative efforts of an interdisciplinary team, consisting of engineers, compliance managers, data protection experts and ethics experts.

The automated driving marker lights will initially be integrated into testing vehicles in California equipped with DRIVE PILOT, which is the world’s first SAE-Level 3 system for conditionally automated driving with internationally valid type approval. DRIVE PILOT received certification in 2021 in Germany and in 2023 in Nevada and California, US where each state requires separate certification. While DRIVE PILOT has been available for order since 2022 in Germany, the first production vehicles in the US recently made their debut on the freeways of California and Nevada.