Mercedes-Benz announced Thursday it has gained approval from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to sell cars with Level 3 self-driving capabilities to customers in the Golden State.

The approval was granted to the company's Drive Pilot system, which allows drivers to legally take their hands off the wheel and eyes off the road, but must still be available to resume control as needed. California is the second state to approve the system, following Nevada's approval in January.

Drive Pilot can only operate on designated stretches of highway during daylight hours at speeds up to 40 mph. According to Reuters, the Bay Area, Central Valley, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego and the interstate highway connecting Southern California to Nevada are among the roads that qualify.

The Drive Pilot system will comes as an available option on 2024-model year Mercedes EQS and S-Class sedans, with deliveries expected later in the year.

One big way Mercedes' Drive Pilot system differs from Level 2 driving assistance features like Tesla's Autopilot or GM's SuperCruise is in legal responsibility. When active, Mercedes takes responsibility for Drive Pilot's actions. As our review editor Mack Hogan said in his first hands-on experience, if the car crashes while Drive Pilot is engaged, that's the car's fault, not yours.

"Mercedes-Benz Drive Pilot is the world's only SAE Level 3 system with internationally valid type approval," Mercedes CTO Markus Schäfer said in a statement. "It builds on a very robust foundation, setting new industry standards. Drive Pilot uses a highly sophisticated vehicle architecture based on redundancy with a multitude of sensors enabling comfortable and safe conditionally automated driving. The certification by the authorities in California and in Nevada once again confirms that redundancy is the safe and thus the right approach."

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