Newsom pushes back against autonomous trucking bill despite support from California Democrats
Eden Villalovas
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California Democrats are clashing with an unlikely member of their own party as they attempt to keep self-driving trucks that weigh over 10,000 pounds off the road without a safety operator present.
Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s (D-CA) administration has opposed the bill sponsored by Democratic Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and supported by the Teamsters Union that seeks to regulate self-driving trucks. AB 316 was first introduced in January and passed the state Assembly in May before clearing a committee review and moving on to the California Senate last month.
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Newsom traditionally does not get involved with state legislation before it hits his desk, but his open opposition to the bill signals he is likely to use his veto powers if the bill is passed through the legislature.
In a letter sent to Aguiar-Curry on Aug. 15, Newsom’s office wrote that AB 316 undermines California’s competitiveness and economic innovation.
“Our state is on the cusp of a new era and cannot risk stifling innovation at this critical juncture,” the letter reads. “In addition, California has the strongest workplace standards and worker protections in the nation.”
Newsom also said that the bill undermines the oversight of several industry officials who regulate the process, such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, California Department of Motor Vehicles, and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“Since 2012, California has undergone a long and thoughtful regulatory process to permit autonomous passenger vehicles and other light-duty vehicles, and the state is currently developing its permitting framework for autonomous heavy-duty trucks,” Newsom’s office wrote.
Several states in the U.S. are rapidly pushing plans for commercialized autonomous driving, including many southern areas, testing this technology on the Sun Belt interstate where the highway stretches from coast to coast. Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, and Wisconsin all have legislation to regulate the testing of vehicles with autonomous technology, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, with a total of 29 states having legislation related to autonomous driving.
“The bill fails to recognize that the federal government and nearly a dozen other states are moving forward with this technology,” the letter reads. “And many of those states are actively positioning themselves to lure away California-based companies and the investments and jobs they bring.”
Teamsters Union members argue the legislation would save jobs for truck drivers and secure California’s roads, stating that higher standards are needed for autonomous vehicles.
“It’s undemocratic and dangerous,” Jason Rabinowitz, Teamsters Joint Council 7 president, said. “We’ve already seen dozens of AV-related safety incidents and it’s time we stopped treating the public like crash test dummies.”
The California Labor Federation backs the legislation, along with elected officials such as Reps. Katie Porter (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Barbara Lee (D-CA) — the top three 2024 Senate candidates vying for Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) seat.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed has sided with unions to support the legislation to block the use of self-driving trucks, arguing the new rules would harm blue-collar workers.
“There is no way we should even be having a discussion about trucks or larger vehicles until we deal with what we are trying to deal with on the ground,” Breed said at a press conference with other city officials in June, according to the San Francisco Standard. Breed referred to the issues self-driving cars have, saying the industry is not ready to move on to trucks.
While Breed fights against autonomous trucks, San Francisco has been leading the charge in commercializing self-driving taxis.
Earlier this month, the California Public Utilities Commission, a state regulator, voted 3-1 to approve two major driverless taxi companies to operate an autonomous pickup and drop-off service at all hours of the day in the city. The expansion of Cruise and Waymo was a major step for the robotaxi industry, initially allowing around 600 autonomous vehicles to roam.
However, driverless cars have faced major setbacks in San Francisco in the weeks following the board’s approval — from traffic blocks and collisions with other vehicles to crashing into construction sites.
San Francisco officials have filed numerous letters and motions to the CPUC asking the board to reconsider their decision, expressing concern about the safety of the roads and lack of regulation the robotaxis are under. A motion was filed by San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu last week, citing “geographic area, service hours, and fleet size” are not supervised enough and are all cause for concern.
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This week, General Motors’ Cruise cut its robotaxi fleet in half after their vehicles were involved in multiple crashes throughout the city, one of them crashing into a fire truck in the middle of an intersection.
“This is an issue that affects tens of millions of Californians, which is why it’s critical that the legislature weighs in on behalf of our constituents,” Aguiar-Curry said in a statement about AB 316. “Requiring higher standards for AV safety isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s what more and more people across our state are demanding.”