Michigan is on a mission to reinvent itself. That is precisely why the state and its local automotive manufacturers are working hard to make Michigan the autonomous vehicle, future mobility capital in the United States.
Naturally, this has its advantages for automakers. The intiative was announced during a Michigan Department of Transportation press conference, in which the state unveiled “Planet M” with a tagline of “Michigan. Where big ideas in mobility are born.”
In support of the state’s branding was General Motors President, Dan Ammann. Ammann spoke during the press conference, and according to local news affiliate WWJ, pushed hard for legislature to pass in an effort to make self-driving cars easier to develop in the state.
“We would like nothing more than for Michigan as a state to be at the forefront of this with us, so we can work together, that we can do a lot of the development work here, create the jobs here, you know, have the technology here,” Ammann said. “And we think there’s a great opportunity to do that, and it will be a missed opportunity if we don’t.”
As many different states, and countries, duke it out for self-driving car rights, Michigan has taken steps to plant its footing as a major contender. And we’d say it has a good shot a doing so, too.
Comment
The first time there is a fatality accident involving an autonomous vehicle the legal community will have a feeding frenzy! I hope GM is socking away a billion or so from their new credit line to cover those lawsuits!