Michigan legislature gives final approval to autonomous vehicle bills

In an attempt to position Michigan as the center of research for autonomous vehicles, the Legislature gave final approval Thursday to a package of four bills that allows for the testing of driverless cars in the state.  Without any discussion or debate, the House of Representative passed the package with overwhelming majorities. The Senate concurred this afternoon with technical changes made by the House and sent the bills to Gov. Rick Snyder for his signature.  The bills — SB 995-998 — approve testing of the new technology on 122 miles of roads in the state and open the way for the American Center for Mobility to redevelop the old Willow Run airport for autonomous vehicle testing and research. One of the bills ends a requirement that a human be inside driverless cars ready to take over if needed. Those driverless cars, used mainly by ride-hailing services like Uber or Lyft, would have to be monitored by an individual who wouldn’t have to be inside the vehicle.