Conflict

Autonomous vehicles driving more conflict

By JEREMY B. WHITE

Driverless-car drama is magnifying the heat on Gov. Gavin Newsom and California regulators.

A dispute over the home-grown autonomous vehicle industry is rippling nationally, with Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien assailing Newsom today for what he called “catering to Big Tech” by opposing a bill requiring human safety drivers onboard autonomous trucks. AB 316 has been a priority for California unions, and O’Brien’s broadside demonstrates the broader economic stakes.

“Our elected officials must stop selling out to Big Tech and Corporate America,” O’Brien said in a statement, which emphasized internal polling showing that people are wary of robo-vehicles and prefer a human near the wheel.

The trucking bill has cruised through the Legislature on broad bipartisan votes. Supportive lawmakers have cited San Francisco’s AV struggles to argue against a heedless trucking expansion, and they’ve asserted that state regulators are too in thrall to the industry to oversee it properly. That skepticism thrums throughout a new letter from lawmakers to the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Public Utilities Commission.

A missive from six Assembly members, led by Assembly Committee on Communications and Conveyance Chair Tasha Boerner, demands more info and warns against “compromising near-term safety with the prospects of long-term safety and economic benefits.” It cautions that “divergent decisions” are “not instilling public confidence,” noting the DMV had Cruise halve its fleet just days after the PUC approved a San Francisco robotaxi expansion.

The next stop for AB 316 is the Senate Appropriations Committee, which will reveal hundreds of bills’ fates during a Friday hearing. Fans and detractors of autonomous vehicles are watching closely to see whether Newsom’s intervention changes the equation.