What amazed me most about Mercedes' latest driver-assistance technology is this.

      It's an exceptionally sunny day in San Francisco. The fog that typically blankets the city in the mornings has cleared, revealing stunning views of Golden Gate and its iconic bridge. I’m in a 2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class with two others, and as we admire the landscape, the car autonomously stops at a stop sign, ensures the intersection is clear, and turns left without any human assistance.

      This showcases Mercedes’ new driver-assist technology, known as MB.Drive Assist Pro, which will be available in the United States in the reimagined CLA-Class later this year. According to Mercedes, this system aligns with Level 2 on the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) autonomy scale, indicating that drivers must remain attentive and engaged at all times. However, the car currently appears to manage without driver intervention.

      We've encountered Level 2 systems before, such as General Motors’ Super Cruise, and Mercedes has already developed a higher degree of automation with its Level 3 Drive Pilot system. Nevertheless, rather than solely pursuing greater automation for its own sake, Mercedes is enhancing Level 2 technology with Drive Assist Pro, making it more applicable to everyday driving.

      It’s smart enough for its purpose

      Instead of merely introducing a system to align with the automated-driving trend, Mercedes is positioning Drive Assist Pro to encourage customer usage. This system operates on both highways and local roads, although only when following a designated route from the navigation system, increasing the likelihood that Drive Assist Pro will function throughout an entire trip.

      Drive Assist Pro also makes its U.S. debut in a base model (having launched in China in 2025). As of press time, Mercedes had not confirmed the pricing for this system, but the CLA starts at $48,500, which is reasonable for a luxury electric vehicle. This is achievable due to a comprehensive yet not extravagant hardware setup that includes 10 cameras, five radars, and 12 ultrasonic sensors, while excluding the more expensive lidar units found in Mercedes’ Drive Pilot Level 3 system.

      Being a Level 2 system, Drive Assist Pro requires drivers to maintain focus on the road, which is monitored by a driver-monitoring camera located on top of the infotainment screen. Instead of expecting drivers to wait idly until intervention is necessary, Mercedes has adopted a more flexible concept known as “collaborative steering.” Drivers can choose to keep their hands off the wheel or take control of steering if they are uncomfortable with the system's actions. In either case, Drive Assist Pro remains engaged to avoid confusion. Deactivation occurs through brake activation or by pressing the cruise control “cancel” button, just like Mercedes' adaptive cruise control systems.

      To manage the unpredictable nature of busy urban streets like those in San Francisco, Mercedes, along with software partner Nvidia, developed a flexible decision-making process supported by an AI akin to an LLM for computer vision, as explained by Ali Kani, Nvidia’s vice president of automotive, before this test drive. This model assists the system in synthesizing decisions based on sensor data and is supported by a standard software “safety stack” that ensures compliance with traffic regulations.

      It drives similarly to a human

      In practice, all this technology enabled the Mercedes CLA to navigate San Francisco's streets alongside Waymo and Zoox robotaxis, although the driver couldn’t relax in the back seat.

      Drive Assist Pro demonstrated smooth acceleration and braking, utilizing the CLA’s forward-facing cameras to read traffic signals and signs to determine when to stop or avoid prohibited right turns on red. The system is programmed with local traffic laws and adheres to them consistently. For instance, it would not cross a solid yellow line to bypass a double-parked vehicle, although drivers could overrule this behavior if they saw a clear path and took control of steering.

      In another instance, when we faced two double-parked cars on a road with broken yellow lines, the system attempted to maneuver around both simultaneously. However, since the driver felt the gap to an oncoming vehicle was insufficient, he gently steered the CLA back into its lane. This capability to keep the driver engaged at all times transforms Drive Assist Pro's Level 2 automation from a limitation into an asset.

      Further illustrating this point, when the vehicle hesitated in a complex situation, the transition to manual control was effortless. In this case, the driver noticed a left turn needing to be made at an intersection with pedestrians crossing and another car trying to turn right into the same lane. Human judgment facilitated a quicker understanding of this scenario.

      It's a more practical approach to automated driving

      As we navigated through the city, encountering numerous Waymo Jaguar I-Pace SUVs adorned with whirring sensors reminded us of the challenges in scaling autonomous driving technology. A driverless experience is the aspiration of Silicon Valley, but after more than a decade of development, it is just beginning to reach the public. Issues persist, like the recent unexpected shutdown of Waymo vehicles during a power outage, and the viability of