June 11, 2018—Ohio Gov. John R. Kasich signed an executive order May 9 that will allow testing of autonomous vehicles on the state's roads, reported the Tribune Chronicle.
The cars must meet safety requirements and be able to follow traffic regulations, according to the report.
According to the Tribune Chronicle, a semitrailer was successfully tested in 2016 on state Route 33 north of Columbus onto the Ohio Turnpike. At that time the state maintained that autonomous vehicles were allowed on Ohio roads but auto companies wanted clarity.
Guy Coviello, vice president of government affairs for the Regional Chamber and a member of the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission, said the area is ideal for testing autonomous vehicles.
“This region is already an industry cluster for warehousing and distribution companies and has most of the physical attributes—two-lane, four-lane, roundabouts, flat, hilly, urban, rural, suburban, etc.—as well as virtually every type of weather necessary to test under all conditions,” Coviello said in the report.
As consumer interest in autonomous cars grows and vehicles become more complex, Kaleb Silver, senior product manager for Hunter Engineering, says the growth of ADAS technologies will provide a major shake-up for the automotive aftermarket, and have a major impact on services in collision repair shops, as technicians must also understand how to repair the ever-changing technology within vehicles.
