This document provides guidelines for the safe conduct of on-road tests of vehicles equipped with prototype conditional, high, and full (levels 3-5) automated driving systems (ADSs), as defined by SAE J3016. It does not include guidance for testing production ADSs intended for sale to the general public. The scope is further limited to testing of automated prototype vehicles on public roads.

These guidelines do not address:

• Testing of driver assist (Level 1) or partial (Level 2) automation systems, which rely on a human driver to monitor the environment. (See SAE J3016 for Definitions of Levels of Automated Systems.)

• Closed-course testing.

• Component-level testing.

The precise regime of road testing for a particular prototype will depend on the intended level of automation and the targeted capabilities of the prototype (see SAE J3016 for more information).

A prototype suitable for testing on public roadways is presumed to have already passed laboratory and/or closed-course testing, which are not addressed by this document.