Ford engineers falling asleep at the wheel – level 3 autonomy ditched

278 Ford has denied reports quoting the company’s executive vice president of product development and chief technical officer, Raj Nair, as saying that its engineers were falling asleep while testing autonomous vehicles, although it has confirmed that it will not offer SAE Level 3 vehicles. In a statement it said the initial reports were inaccurate and sought to clarify its decision not to offer Level 3 vehicles.

The statement said: “We believe that high levels of automation without full autonomy capability could provide a false sense of security, and that this presents a challenge for the driver to regain full awareness and control of the vehicle if a situation arises where the technology cannot function.  That is why we’re currently pursuing SAE Level 4 autonomous capability that will take the driver completely out of the driving process in defined areas.”