Utah could soon join states like Arizona, California and Pennsylvania in allowing driverless, automatic vehicles to traverse Utah roads.
Members of the Senate Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy and Technology Committee voted 5-0 in favor of HB101 and sent it on to the full Senate.
The bill passed out of the House last week, also unanimously, with a 70-0 vote.
During the House hearing, HB101 sponsor Rep. Robert Spendlove, R-Sandy, said the bill wouldn’t dramatically change Utah road culture. He estimated that it will be years before self-driving cars regularly drive on Utah highways.
Spendlove clarified that his intention for the bill is to help move self-driving car developers away from closed-track testing and open up a door to public road access. It would allow any level of autonomous vehicle.
According to Spendlove, several different companies would come to Utah to do open road testing once a statute is in place to allow it.