"Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina, says, “A law that gives individual communities more flexibility in working with these developers could be a good thing.” But he also points out that Google shaped the original autonomous vehicle legislation in California, which disadvantaged systems that the company was not pursuing, such as automated lorries.
“This pattern will happen again,” he says. “A prominent company will announce an automated driving product or service and will then describe any specific legal changes necessary for its deployment. If the message (or messenger) is powerful, many states will likely accede.”"