California AB-316 May Ban Autonomous Trucks
We still have a long way to go before commercial vehicles become fully autonomous and remove the human driver entirely from the equation, but that is not stopping California from getting ahead of the curve by…trying to limit it? Yes, the state normally known for technological innovation is now trying to legislate autonomous trucks away from its roads, through a bill known as AB-316.
Details
AB-316, should it become law in California, will ban humanless trucks from operating in California’s borders, even for testing purposes regarding the technology. The legislation passed the lower state assembly with overwhelming support, to the point that even a veto from Governor Gavin Newsom may not be enough to stop it.
There are two primary reasons why the legislation is doing as well as it is. One is because of worry from trucker unions such as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters regarding putting millions of workers nationwide out of good-paying jobs when self-driving trucks become the new normal. The other reason is the state legislature wanting the technology to be tested in other states to be as safe as technologically possible before it is welcome within the borders of the nation’s most populous state.
“This is an issue that affects tens of millions of Californians, which is why it’s critical that the legislature weighs in on behalf of our constituents,” said California Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, one of the bill’s authors. “Requiring higher standards for AV safety isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s what more and more people across our state are demanding.”
Conclusion
Assuming AB-316 becomes law, the only tangible outcome is that California residents will need to go outside of state borders in order to marvel at the wonders of an autonomous truck doing a delivery until at least 2030. The reason we say this is because self-driving technology has a very long way to go before it is ready to do anything beyond driving in a straight line. Eventually, the autonomous trucks will come to California, where it may take the state by storm as California’s previous legislation has often left truckers out to dry.
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