Several states put the brakes on autonomous vehicles; Teamsters back bill that would require a safety driver

Tractor-trailers stacked up on the shoulder of Interstate 70 near
Aurora, Colo. (Photo by David Zalubowski, The Associated Press)

Get ready for a bumpy ride. Several states are looking at entirely driverless autonomous vehicles "to consider legislation backed by the Teamsters union to require that a safety driver always is on board," reports Austin Jenkins of Pluribus News. "Amid the prevailing trend of nearly two dozen states explicitly allowing the testing and deployment of driverless vehicles. So-called driver-in legislation has been introduced in California, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, New Mexico and Texas."

California may have the most contentious battle. "Teamsters are backing a bill that would prohibit medium- and heavy-duty vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or more from operating on public roads without a human safety driver. The bipartisan bill, which boasts more than 20 coauthors, cleared its first committee this week with strong support," Jenkins reports. "If approved, the law would preempt the California Department of Motor Vehicles from issuing rules allowing heavier autonomous vehicles to ply the roads without a driver. California currently allows driverless light-duty vehicles under certain circumstances."

Jenkins reports, "In January, the DMV held a workshop with their Highway Patrol that signaled what the agency calls a 'starting point for the potential development of heavy-duty autonomous vehicle regulations.'" Teamster Jason Rabinowitz told Jenkins, "We don't want the DMV to make this decision. A decision of this magnitude should be made by the legislature." Commenting on the Teamsters efforts, Jeff Farrah, executive director of the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association, told Jenkins, "Trying to wedge these driver-only bills into these state capitols is something that we think is not the right way to do it."

On the one hand, "Backers say the bill is about protecting public safety and jobs," Jenkins writes. "The prime author of the bill, Assembly-member Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, cited experience with light-duty driverless vehicles. . . . She pointed to incidents where the vehicles have blocked intersections and impeded emergency vehicles, among other issues. She argued that trucks, because of their size and weight, pose an 'exponentially greater threat to the public.'"

One the other hand, "The bill has drawn the opposition of more than 40 companies and business organizations who say autonomous trucks offer the promise of safer roads, more reliable supply chain efficiency and new career opportunities," Jenkins writes. "Farrah countered that the AV industry has a 'remarkable safety record' and said the industry offers a path to dramatically reducing the nearly 40,000 motor vehicle fatalities each year in the U.S., including those involving trucks."

While California lawmakers remain positive "about the future of AVs and their ability to ultimately make the roads safer, but they also expressed concern about moving too quickly to deploy the technology without adequate safeguards," Jenkins reports. Transportation Committee Chair Laura Friedman told Jenkins, "Putting 80,000-pound vehicles on the road without a driver would happen sometime after we all feel really, really good about the state of single-passenger autonomous vehicles."