California debates the best way to ensure autonomous trucks are safe and don’t take jobs.
Image: HDT Graphic with Kodiak photo
California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a Teamsters-backed bill that would have effectively banned autonomous trucks in the state.
Assembly Bill 2286 would have prohibited the operation of autonomous vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or more on public roads for testing, transporting goods, or carrying passengers without a human safety operator physically present in the vehicle.
Newsom noted in his veto statement that he vetoed a nearly identical bill last year, but that his administration wants to work with the bill’s author, sponsors, and stakeholders “to meet the needs of traffic safety, worker protections, and jobs as this evolving technology progresses in California.
“It is important to note that 35 jurisdictions — including Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Washington, and the District of Columbia — have already authorized the testing of heavy-duty autonomous vehicles,” Newsom said.
“California remains the only state to actively prohibit these vehicles.”
In fact, Texas seems to be a hotbed of autonomous-truck development, home to companies such as Waabi, Kodiak, Aurora, Volvo Autonomous Solutions, and a new company founded by TuSimple co-founder, Bot Auto.
Regulating Autonomous Vehicles in California
Critics of the bill also said it sought to bypass the regulatory process. The California DMV recently released new draft regulations for autonomous truck safety and for other autonomous vehicles.
Open for public input until Oct. 14, the draft regulations propose strict guidelines for heavy-duty AV operations, including:
- Limiting operations to roads with speed limits of 50 mph or higher
- A phased permitting process
- More robust reporting from companies testing or deploying AVs
- Provide additional enforcement tools to place restrictions on permits
Jobs vs. Technological Innovation
The Teamsters union issued a statement criticizing Newsom’s veto.
“The vast majority of Californians oppose unregulated, unaccountable driverless cars and trucks on our roads,” it said.
“A regulatory framework that ignores this reality does not benefit the people of California — the millions who want good middle-class jobs and safe streets, the people that our state government is bound by duty to serve. Such a framework only benefits a handful of billionaires in the tech industry.”
The Teamsters said it’s not giving up and is currently exploring all options at its disposal.
Newsom, however, said this shouldn’t be framed as a jobs-vs-tech issue.
“Recognizing that our workforce is the foundation of our economic success, California leads the nation with some of the strongest worker protection laws,” Newsom said in his veto statement.
“Our state also is renowned globally as a leader in technological innovation. We reject that one aim must yield to the other, and our success disproves this false binary,” he added.
“Advancing both priorities requires creativity, collaboration, and a willingness to work together to identify pragmatic solutions. Toward that end, my office offered multiple rounds of suggested amendments, which were unfortunately not accepted.”
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