XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, rec.autos.driving, sac.politics   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: ban@self-driving.cars   
      
   After flying under lawmakers' radar for years, autonomous vehicle   
   companies are suddenly crashing into political reality. With the backing   
   of labor allies, California politicians are racing to rein in the fleets   
   of self-driving cars multiplying across the state’s roads.   
      
   Assemblymember Matt Haney, who represents San Francisco, has introduced a   
   bill that would require additional data reporting from autonomous vehicle   
   companies to the Department of Motor Vehicles and impose strict financial   
   penalties for those companies that fail to do so.   
      
   Haney’s proposal, known as the AV Safety and Transparency Bill, is meant   
   to bring state data reporting requirements in line with what self-driving   
   car companies have to disclose to the federal government.   
      
   It would require companies like Waymo, Zoox and Cruise to provide detailed   
   reports on collisions, traffic violations, passenger and road user   
   interactions, vehicle performance data and vehicle disengagements,   
   commonly known as “bricking.”   
      
   These reports would be required regardless of whether vehicles were   
   operating with a human test driver behind the wheel or were autonomously   
   ferrying ride-hail passengers and would be published on the DMV website   
   within 30 days of their receipt.   
      
   “I’m supportive of the technology and want it done right,” Haney said in a   
   statement. “But as they grow from testing to full deployment, there’s a   
   lot that’s not being shared and that hurts trust, it hurts transparency,   
   and it hurts safety.”   
      
   Failure to meet the requirements would result in a steep fine of around   
   $26,000 per day and the bill includes potential multipliers that would   
   raise the total penalty to a manufacturer to $131.5 million.   
      
   The bill, AB 3061, adds to a growing raft of autonomous vehicle   
   legislation being introduced by state lawmakers, many of whom are backed   
   by powerful labor unions, which are generally opposed to self-driving   
   vehicles because of the potential for mass disruption of the labor market   
   for its members.   
      
   “AB 3061 isn’t just about holding AV companies to account, it’s about   
   holding our regulators to account, cutting out the politics and putting   
   public safety first,” Peter Finn, president of Teamsters Joint Council 7,   
   said in a statement. “We can’t keep letting bureaucrats cater to their   
   friends in Big Tech and then look the other way when robotaxis hit people   
   or cause mayhem on our streets.”   
      
   Earlier this year, state Sen. David Cortese introduced SB 916, which would   
   give local governments the ability to establish vehicle caps and service   
   hours and require a system for emergency responders to override vehicle   
   controls.   
      
   The Teamsters-backed bill would allow local authorities to block robotaxi   
   services from operating unless authorized by individual cities and   
   counties.   
      
   It responds to concerns from local officials, particularly in San   
   Francisco, that they were being excluded from the regulatory process while   
   having to contend with the on-the-ground ramifications of the new   
   technology.   
      
   “It enables cities and counties to do the same things they do with cab   
   service and ride-share around airports,” Cortese told The Standard in   
   January. “This gets us past square one and into a regulatory environment   
   where local jurisdictions have a say.”   
      
   In January, San Francisco Assemblymember Phil Ting introduced AB 1777,   
   which is meant to close a loophole within the current vehicle code that   
   exempts a driverless car from being given a moving violation citation   
   because there is no individual driver to cite.   
      
   The law would require that fines and points be assessed to the individual   
   car violating the law, mirroring the treatment of human drivers, with   
   payment from the autonomous vehicle permit holder.   
      
   Also in partnership with the Teamsters, Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-   
   Curry has reintroduced a bill that would require a trained human operator   
   to be behind the wheel of self-driving trucks weighing more than 10,000   
   lbs.   
      
   “This bill is still necessary,” Aguiar-Curry said at a rally announcing AB   
   2286. “It’s a commonsense measure that keeps humans on board a truck until   
   we have a plan for our workers and we are sure the tech bros aren’t   
   jamming unsafe technology down our throats.”   
      
   The proposal was initially brought forward by the Yolo County lawmaker as   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)