Wisconsin creates committee on autonomous cars and connected vehicles

Wisconsin creates committee on autonomous cars and connected vehicles

google-self-driving-car

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker issued an executive order on Thursday to create a steering committee, which will look into autonomous cars and connected vehicles.

The committee will research and evaluate all aspects of autonomous cars and submit policy recommendations to the Governor’s office by the summer of 2018.

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It is the slow route to legalization and could place Wisconsin a few years behind states like Michigan and California, which have already legalized self-driving car tests.

Officials from the Department of Transportation, legislators, industry representatives, law enforcement officers and University of Wisconsin researchers will all be part of the committee, according to The Cap Times.

The committee will look into what policies need to be changed, the best public roads to test autonomous vehicles, and how to connect cars to other cars and traffic lights.

Wisconsin in the driver’s seat

“Wisconsin is uniquely positioned to study, test, and develop automated and connected vehicle technology. I’m creating a Steering Committee to assist with this process by advising me and other state agencies on how we can safely and effectively test and study autonomous and connected vehicles on Wisconsin roads,” said Gov. Scott Walker in a press release.

“This is great news for Wisconsin and has the potential to create jobs, spur economic growth, and strengthen mobility throughout the state. We have a long history of contributing to advancements in the automotive field, and I know we will rise to the challenge in this instance as well.”

Public opinion on autonomous vehicles is still low, especially in areas where nobody has even seen or tried one of the cars. That may be why Wisconsin is taking a year to look into the technology, by that time, we may have fully driverless trials in other states.

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