![]() Autonomous vehicles were not found to be “clearly at fault” for the few collisions that caused serious injuries, the letter said.Ĭalifornia DMV Director Steve Gordon said in the letter that the department meets with companies that make self-driving vehicles after accidents occur to find out the root cause. In August, the DMV sent a letter to Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, who introduced this year’s bill, saying the testing of self-driving vehicles across 18.3 million miles (29.5 million kilometers) since 2014 in the state has not led to any fatalities. DMV leaders oppose the bill, saying the authority to regulate such vehicles should remain with their agency. Jerry Brown signed a law mandating that companies get approval from the Department of Motor Vehicles before putting their self-driving vehicles to use on public roads. The Legislature sent these proposals to Newsom at a time hotel workers, Hollywood writers and actors are on strike. Labor was at the heart of several legislative fights this year, including efforts to raise wages for health care workers, make striking workers eligible for unemployment benefits and allow legislative staffers to unionize. “We don’t need robots driving these materials around.” “Hazardous materials are everywhere,” Rice said. Self-driving technology that “doesn’t value” life can’t understand what’s at stake when operating massive vehicles at high speeds, he said.īrian Rice, president of the California Professional Firefighters union, said it’s important for first responders to be able to communicate with commercial truck drivers when emergencies happen - for example if there is a spill of dangerous materials that can become a health hazard. Mike Di Bene, a commercial truck driver of nearly 30 years and member of the Oakland Teamsters chapter, said human drivers have the “intuition and experience” to quickly adapt to unexpected situations, including when there is black ice on the road or when a tire blows out on the freeway. There are about 200,000 commercial truck drivers in California, according to Teamsters officials. Some chants were laced with profanities as they urged Newsom to support their cause. Drivers wore shirts representing their chapter of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a large union backing the bill, and chanted “sign that bill” as semi-trucks lined a street in front of the Capitol. On Tuesday in Sacramento, hundreds of truck drivers, union leaders and other supporters of the bill rallied at the state Capitol. ![]() In Phoenix, companies have tested self-driving trucks on highways and to deliver mail through a partnership with the U.S. In San Francisco, two robotaxi companies got approval last month from state regulators to operate in the city at all hours, despite concerns about these vehicles making unexpected stops and blocking traffic. The bill comes as the debate over the future of autonomous vehicles heats up. Businesses say self-driving trucks would help them transport products more efficiently in the future. ![]() ![]() They argue self-driving cars that are already on the roads haven’t caused many serious accidents compared to cars driven by people. Other opponents of the bill say self-driving truck regulations should be left up to the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles and officials with expertise on keeping the roads safe. “Our state is on the cusp of a new era and cannot risk stifling innovation,” Dee Dee Myers, the office’s director and senior adviser to Newsom, said in a letter opposing the bill. His administration’s Department of Finance projected it would cost the state about $1 million annually to implement the bill’s requirements, and his Office of Business and Economic Development says it would push companies making self-driving technologies to move out-of-state. Newsom, who typically enjoys strong support from labor, is facing some pressure from within his administration not to sign it.
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