The governor of California instituted a ban on driverless trucks
State Assembly AB316 requires a safety driver on autonomous trucks to be tested on public roads. Reply to Newsom via a mass caravan to Sacramento
Newsom’s veto won’t change much in the short term. Rules that govern state government are still developing, so driverless trucks can’t be tested on public roads. Newsom wrote in his letter that draft regulations “are expected to be released for public comment in the coming months.”
The law is unnecessary because California already has two agencies, the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Highway Patrol, that are responsible for overseeing and creating regulations for the new technology. State agencies are in the midst of creating specific rules for heavy-duty autonomous vehicles, including trucks.
Newsom wrote that the DMV had sought the input of “interested stakeholders” to help it craft future laws surrounding driverless vehicles. The department will seek public comment after transparent rulemaking with subject matter experts and other stakeholders.
The bill was approved by state lawmakers with 36 affirming it and two rejecting it on September 11th, and by state assembly members with 69 approving it on May 31st.
Teamsters president Sean O’Brien wrote that “jobs and communities” would have been saved by the bill, and vetoing it gives “a greenlight to put these dangerous rigs on the road.”
The impact of technology on the future of work was the focus of the veto message, which stated that he would ask the Labor Department to work with stakeholders to recommend ways to mitigated the damage self-driving trucks may have.
Companies developing the technology say it will save freight shippers money by enabling trucks to run loads on highways 24 hours a day, and by eliminating the dangers of distracted human driving, which could bring down insurance costs.
The Teamsters union, which represents tens of thousands US truck drivers, mechanics, and other freight workers, organized a mass caravan to Sacramento this week to urge Newsom to sign AB316, which would have required a safety driver on self-driving trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds through at least the end of the decade.
Most of the US companies working on autonomous trucks operate on highways in the Southeast and West, especially Texas, where dry weather and a come-as-y’all-are approach to driverless tech regulations make conditions ideal. The safety drivers that are trained to take over when the truck goes wrong have not been removed from the testing of the trucks. (The controversial company TuSimple says it has completed a handful of completely driverless truck demonstrations in the US; it has since paused its US operations.)
California Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill that would’ve required safety driver on self-driving trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds through at least the end of the decade. The bill would’ve required safety drivers to be trained to take over when the truck goes wrong. The rules are still being developed, so driverless trucks can’t be tested on public roads.