California regulators rushed their decision on driverless trucks, Teamsters' lawsuit says
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Set us as preferred As self-driving vehicles spread across the country, a major California labor union is taking a stand against state regulators who say autonomous trucks are ready for the road.Teamsters California sued the California Department of Motor Vehicles earlier this month over the DMV’s decision to lift a ban on autonomous vehicles weighing more than 10,001 pounds.
The DMV announced the new regulations in April, along with certification requirements that mandate testing with a safety driver and 500,000 miles driven at each stage of certification.The Teamsters, which represent 250,000 workers across dozens of industries in California, said they have concerns about how this will affect drivers’ work and safety.The union said the DMV approved heavy-duty driverless vehicles without considering impact or public input.
Climate & Environment The West Coast is home to one of the busiest freight corridors in the United States, and it’s getting cleaner.“We’re not going to sit by idly while they put jobs and the safety of our streets and roads at risk,” Teamsters California co-chair Peter Finn said in an interview.“It’s clear from experience with Waymo that these autonomous vehicles can’t deal with unanticipated circumstances, so we are certainly cautioning about the dangers of 26,000 pounds barreling down the highways at 65 miles per hour.”Finn pointed to instances of autonomous vehicles blocking first responders and a blackout in San Francisco last year that caused Waymo taxis to stall and get stuck in the road.
“Any time anything goes wrong at all, the system completely fails,” Finn said.The California DMV said it could not comment on ongoing litigation.
In a statement in April, DMV director Steve Gordon said the updated regulations “further demonstrate the state’s commitment to publi...