Among the many duties of The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE International) is to provide a forum for engineers, governments, and other stakeholders to develop technical standards and best practices for the automotive sector. The SAE today houses over 9,900 documents that are the fruits of collaboration between some 15,000 experts and engineers worldwide. Among these standards, perhaps the most referenced and influential today is standard J3016.
To most, J3016 is better known as the standard for referencing vehicle autonomy levels. It is the source for the six levels of autonomy from L0 through to L5 that have entered the popular discourse since their creation in 2014. However, while being very influential the standard has provided consternation for the industry, governments, and insurance companies alike.
