On 28 October 2026 Ohio state representative Adam Holmes introduced House Bill 1034, a statewide framework for autonomous vehicles (AVs), as reported in The Driverless Commute's weekly round-up.
What the bill covers
The bill would:
- allow fully driverless operation on Ohio roads under state rules;
- require AV operators to file emergency-response plans setting out how police and fire services can deal with their vehicles;
- set insurance requirements for AV ride-hailing services;
- establish who is liable for traffic violations committed by a vehicle with no human driver;
- pre-empt local regulation of AVs, so that cities cannot impose their own rules.
The ticketing gap elsewhere
The liability clause targets a real problem. In Colorado, the Denver Gazette reported on 2 November that Denver police cannot issue moving-violation tickets to Waymo's driverless cars, because state law has no way to cite a vehicle with no driver. City officials are looking at state-law changes to close the gap, but Colorado's 2017 AV law pre-empts local rules.
Ohio's bill is part of a wider push by US states to put AV deployment on a clear statutory footing before robotaxi services expand into the Midwest. It still has to go through committee and both chambers.
Why it matters financially
Statewide pre-emption and clear insurance and liability rules lower the legal risk and cost of launching robotaxi and driverless freight services. That makes Ohio, with its large logistics and car manufacturing base, more attractive to AV operators. No cost estimates have been published for the bill.