SB 915 Will Protect Good Jobs, Public
Safety from Dangerous Autonomous Trucks and Cars
SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 17,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- California Senate Bill 915 (SB 915), a
Teamsters-supported bill that will allow the state's local
governments to regulate autonomous vehicles (AVs), passed
overwhelmingly today in the State Senate Local Government
Committee.
"The Teamsters commend the Senators on the Local Government
Committee who supported this bill to protect public safety and good
union jobs," said Chris Griswold,
Teamsters International Vice President At-Large and President of
Teamsters Joint Council 42. "Right now, local communities
have zero control over the dangerous autonomous vehicles on their
roads. SB 915 will help fix this broken system and keep our
communities safe by giving municipalities a voice in the deployment
of AVs."
SB 915 was first introduced in January by State Senator
Dave Cortese (D - San Jose). Under SB 915, municipalities can
opt out of allowing AVs on their roads, but if they choose to allow
AVs, the bill gives local governments the power to create a
regulatory roadmap, outline the number of AVs allowed on public
roads, and implement standards on data transparency requirements,
ADA accessibility, safety and health inspections and more. The San
Francisco City Council, Oakland City Council, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and
San Mateo County Board of
Supervisors all passed resolutions in favor of SB 915 earlier this
year.
Growing support for AV regulation comes amid ongoing AV safety
incidents. This year alone, robotaxis in California came within seconds of colliding
with children and crashed into a cyclist. In February, Waymo
announced a recall of its robotaxi software in response to two of
its robotaxis crashing into the same truck minutes apart in
Phoenix, Ariz., in December 2023.
"Under current California law,
state agencies are the only regulatory bodies with any regulatory
authority over AV operations. Instead of supporting common sense
regulation, the agencies support Big Tech," said Peter Finn, Teamsters Western Region
International Vice President and President of Teamsters Joint
Council 7. "This isn't just dangerous, it's widely unpopular and
concerning to voters. The Teamsters are calling on all elected
leaders to join the Senate Committee, protect Californians, and
pass SB 915."
A new study from the American Automobile Association shows more
than 91 percent of U.S. drivers have expressed either fear or
uncertainty about fully self-driving vehicles. Despite this, the
California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the Department of
Motor Vehicles have refused to implement significant AV safety
measures. Instead, the CPUC approved the expansion of Waymo
robotaxis in Los Angeles and
San Francisco earlier this
year.
"Until California implements responsible guardrails for AVs, Big
Tech will influence the deployment of autonomous vehicles on our
roads more than voters. This puts pedestrians, first responders,
and the general public in danger," said Lindsay Dougherty, Teamsters Western Region
International Vice President and Motion Picture and Theatrical
Trades Division Director. "The Teamsters applaud the Senate Local
Government Committee for ensuring residents throughout the state
get to have a say regarding whether they want AVs rolling through
their neighborhoods."
SB 915 is part of the CARS legislative package on autonomous
vehicles the Teamsters are advocating for in Sacramento to protect good jobs and public
safety. The other two Teamsters-supported bills in the CARS
legislative package, Assembly Bill 2286 and AB 3061, passed out of
the Assembly Transportation Committee with overwhelming support on
Monday and will head to the Assembly Communications and Conveyance
Committee for a vote on April 23.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
represents 1.3 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto
Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on
Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at
Facebook.com/teamsters.
Contact:
Sean
Nesmith, (678)
467-4306
sean.nesmith@berlinrosen.com
Matthew
McQuaid, (202)
624-6877
mmcquaid@teamster.org
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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters