DETROIT — A 21-member council focused on advancing Michigan's mobility industry is calling on the state to identify and amend laws to prepare for autonomous vehicles.
The Michigan Council on Future Mobility, which was created in conjunction with an autonomous vehicle bill passed in December 2016, recommends Michigan maintain its national leadership position in the field of mobility by creating a public-private framework for vehicle cybersecurity as well as studying and addressing liability and insurance risks associated with autonomous vehicles.
The council made its recommendations public after presenting them to Gov. Rick Snyder on April 2.
The group is calling for the state to study the Michigan Vehicle Code and the Michigan Insurance Code and seek ways to codify the liability of autonomous vehicles, by determining whether the word "drive" or "operate" should be amended.
Michigan State University College of Law has agreed to study the laws and find areas of potential change.
The council also wants the state to establish a digital mobility law journal and says discussions are already underway with the University of Michigan Law School.
The specific recommendations on cybersecurity call for the state to develop a best practices framework for data-sharing; calls to increase penalties for the unlawful sharing of data collected from connected and autonomous vehicles and systems; and to continue a leadership role in advising the federal government on regulations.
"These public policy recommendations provide a rigorous framework and practical methods to address the many forms of mobility that are rapidly becoming a reality," Snyder said in a statement. "Many of the issues contained in the report are the same as those that come up in discussions when I travel to promote Michigan as the mobility capital of the world, and this input helps to answer those questions and show that we are staying at the forefront of all things mobility."