From Nasdaq:

California lawmakers and labor unions are calling for laws to ban autonomous trucks without human drivers after several accidents involving self-driving vehicles. These include a recent incident where a Waymo vehicle was torched and previous accidents involving a cyclist and a pedestrian.

Efforts to push for stricter control through two bills are underway, with Senator Dave Cortese sponsoring one of the bills. This bill would give cities control over permits for AVs and enforcement of AV-related laws.

Another bill requires a trained human driver to be present behind the wheel of self-driving vehicles weighing more than 10,001 pounds, a classification that includes commercial trucks.

The Teamsters, one of America’s biggest unions, opposes the deployment of AVs citing safety hazards and job losses, and it supports both bills.

Many states, including Texas and Arkansas, allow the testing and operation of self-driving trucks. California already bars heavy-weight autonomous trucks but is in the process of creating regulations that would allow it. The re-introduced truck bill would delay that process.



Read more: California lawmakers call for stricter regulation of autonomous vehicles