Turning off to the right from the left-hand lane, flashing speed limit traffic signs, kangaroos jumping over the road: road traffic in Australia presents some very special challenges. Automated and autonomous vehicles have to be aware of these peculiarities. In the third leg of the Mercedes-Benz Intelligent World Drive, the test vehicle – based on the S-Class series-production saloon - is facing up to Australia's unique conditions and situations with automated test drives on highways, motorways and in the city of Melbourne. Mercedes-Benz started the Intelligent World Drive at the Frankfurt International Motor Show (IAA) in September to adapt more highly automated driving functions to national traffic and user practices. The aim is to gather global insights into real-life traffic conditions for the advancement of the technologies. As part of this, up until January 2018 the test vehicle is collecting comprehensive information in a variety of complex traffic situations on five continents and in doing so is sounding out the limitations of the current systems. The focus of the test drives in Australia, taking place from Sydney via Canberra and Albury to Melbourne and its urban traffic, is on validating the digital map data from HERE, detecting traffic signs specific to the country and testing out the innovative DIGITAL LIGHT system.
