In a blow to the autonomous truck industry, the California Senate passed a bill on Monday that would require a trained human safety operator to be present any time a self-driving, heavy duty car operates on the public roads of the state. In fact, the bill prohibits driverless AV trucks.
AB 316, which passed the senate floor with 36 votes in favor and two against, still needs to be signed by Governor Gavin Newsom before it becomes law. Newsom has a reputation of being friendly to the technology industry, and is expected to veto AB 316. In August, one of the governor’s senior advisers wrote a letter to Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, the bill’s author, opposing the law. The letter states that such restrictions on autonomous trucking would not only weaken existing regulations, but could also limit innovation and efficiency in the supply chain and hinder the competitiveness of the California economy.
Proponents of the bill, first introduced in January, argued that having more control over the removal of safety drivers from autonomous trucks would protect California road users and ensure job security for those truck driver.
“AV companies have lost billions of dollars in the self-driving car space over the past few years and are now trying to appease their investors by imposing unsafe, inadequate products on the public, ” said Jason Rabinowitz, president of Teamsters Joint Council 7, in a statement. “These corporate elites have no regard whatsoever for the safety or prosperity of the communities they put in harm’s way. Gov. Newsom needs to do right by Californians — not these companies — now.
AV companies and industry representatives say the bill will not only defeat the purpose of driverless technology, but it will also prevent the development of technology that could save lives. Opponents of AB 316 point to 5,788 truck crash deaths occurring in 2021, a 47% increase over 10 years. They compare that statistic to the zero deaths caused by AV trucks in more than two years of reporting and tens of millions of miles driven on public roads.
Of course, almost all the miles driven have a human safety operator behind the wheel.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles, the agency tasked with issuing testing and deployment permits for AVs in the state, currently has a ban on AVs weighing more than 10,001 pounds in the state. AB 316 was written in anticipation of the DMV lifting that ban. It blocks the agency from signing off on autonomous trucking companies that remove the driver for testing or deployment purposes, a power the agency has held since 2012.
The bill’s authors previously told TechCrunch that they don’t want to stop driverless trucks from coming to California forever — until the legislature is convinced it’s safe to remove the driver.
According to the bill’s language, the DMV must now provide evidence of safety to policymakers. By January 1, 2029, or five years after testing begins (whichever is later), the DMV must submit a report to the state to evaluate the AV technology’s performance and its impact on public safety. and work in the trucking sector. The report will include information such as ejections and crashes, as well as a recommendation on the need for human safety operators in heavy-duty AVs.
After approval, the DMV must wait another year before issuing a permit. That means California may not see autonomous trucks operating without a person in the front seat until 2030 at the earliest.
“The DMV opposes AB 316 because it will not increase safety and, in fact, will have a chilling effect on technological progress in California that is intended to result in increased safety benefits on our roads,” said the DMV in a statement.
