As the industry transitions from L2 driver-assistance toward SAE Level 3 conditional automation, the question of takeover readiness becomes central to both safety and trust. Determining whether a driver is truly prepared to resume control requires more than monitoring eyes on road or hands on wheel; it demands a deeper understanding of human intent, cognitive load, and situational awareness in complex, real-world conditions, and equally careful design of how takeover requests are conveyed through visual, audio, and haptic cues. 

This panel explores what takeover readiness really means in the shift to L3, and why interpreting human behaviour remains one of the most challenging problems engineers face in automated driving. How can nuanced human states be sensed, fused, and translated into reliable system inputs? What signals meaningfully indicate willingness and capability to re-engage, and how should systems respond when confidence is uncertain? 

Bringing together experts across in-cabin sensing, human factors, HMI, and validation, this session examines how safe, intelligible transitions of control between system and driver can be designed, communicated, and assured at scale.