On Friday, Teamsters and local elected officials gathered at City Hall to demand the passage of a bill that would regulate autonomous vehicles in Los Angeles.
Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose) introduced Senate Bill 915, named the Autonomous Vehicle Service Deployment and Data Transparency Act, in early January. The bill would allow local governments to regulate autonomous vehicles.
“The emergence of autonomous vehicles is an exciting technological development with massive potential upsides for safety and convenience,” Cortese said. “We must ensure this innovative technology rolls out safely. SB 915 strikes the right balance between responsible technology deployment and public safety.
Chris Griswold, Teamsters International Vice President at-large and President of Teamsters Joint Council 42, voiced his support for the bill during the rally.
“California has an opportunity to put safety first, and that starts with passing SB 915,” he said.
“It’s past time we give local governments a say in how this dangerous technology impacts their communities.”
L.A. City Council members Eunisses Hernandez, Nithya Raman, and Hugo Soto-Martinez took part in the rally.
Soto-Martinez told KNX News’ Craig Fiegener that the autonomous vehicles are not ready for the streets of L.A.
“They blocked first responders from getting to emergency calls. They've blocked intersections,” he said. “Every time your Wi-Fi goes down, you know, that's the same time that those cars go down.”
The bill came as Waymo, which is owned by Google, wrote a letter last month to the California Public Utilities Commission looking to expand its autonomous taxis in Northern and Southern California.
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