Conditions for a safe state of automated road vehicles

Abstract The term safe state is not yet defined accurately in the context of automated road vehicles. In this paper we derive several conditions, which are in our opinion important for the discussion of a safe state for automated road vehicles. From an engineering view, several concepts on the classification of automation levels are analyzed and from their results and current research and development approaches a definition of a safe state is proposed. Especially the relation between risk and safety for passengers of automated vehicles and other traffic participants is considered. Several use cases for automated vehicles and events with impact to safety are discussed to identify conditions for a safe state in public traffic, which have to be fulfilled to keep the risk of operating an automated vehicle below a reasonable level.