Michigan would no longer require that someone be inside a self-driving car while testing it on public roads under legislation passed unanimously Wednesday by the state Senate, where backers touted the measures as necessary to keep the U.S. auto industry's home state ahead of the curve on rapidly advancing technology. The expansive bills, which are on track for final legislative approval by year's end, would make Michigan a rare state to explicitly end a requirement that a researcher be inside an autonomous test vehicle. The researcher would have to "promptly" take control of its movements remotely if necessary, or the vehicle would have to be able to stop or slow on its own. Supporters said the human-operator requirement is seen as an impediment that could put Michigan at risk of losing research and development to other states. Other provisions would allow for public operation of driverless vehicles when they are sold, ease the "platooning" of autonomous commercial trucks traveling closely together at electronically coordinated speeds and help create a facility to test autonomous and wirelessly connected cars at highway speeds at the site of a defunct General Motors plant that once churned out World War II bombers.

LANSING, Mich – Michigan would no longer require that someone be inside a self-driving car while testing it on public roads under bills up for a vote in the Legislature. The change is expected to win Senate approval Wednesday and likely reach Gov. Rick Snyder's desk within months. The legislation is designed to keep the U.S. auto industry's home state ahead of the curve on autonomous vehicles. A researcher wouldn't have to be present in a self-driving test car. But he or she would be required to "promptly" take control of its movements if necessary.