Coloradans could vote on requiring human operators in autonomous trucks

A bill under consideration at the Colorado General Assembly would allow Coloradans to vote on a referendum requiring human operators for commercial autonomous vehicles weighing over 26,000 pounds.

It's similar to a bill passed by the legislature last year that Gov. Jared Polis vetoed. Two key differences between this bill and last year's bill are that it expires in five years and it makes an exception for the self-driving attenuators CDOT uses to keep road workers safe.

The Teamsters support the bill because they say it would take away jobs and make Colorado roads less safe.

Nate McCarty is a union member and has been a semi driver for 22 years. While he loves his job, he will admit it can be pretty dangerous out on the road.

"I have to constantly be vigilant of what I'm doing, watching everybody that's around me," said McCarty.

He says he's not anti-technology; in fact, he's been working alongside tech in his truck for years, but he does think the technology isn't ready yet to take a driver out of a semi.

"There's a lot of failures with it. You know, every driver I know has experience almost every day," said McCarty.

Last year, HB 25-112, which would have regulated autonomous commercial vehicle testing and operations in Colorado, passed the State House and State Senate, but Polis vetoed it. In a letter he wrote at the time, Polis said Colorado already has legislation to regulate automation in cars, and he thinks further regulation will stifle innovation in the state and make our roads less safe, saying, in part, "driver error is the leading cause of accidents."

McCarty says that's unfair to him and his fellow professional drivers.

"They're lumping this with the rest of the motoring public when we actually have a very safe driving record," said McCarty. "We're making a lot of commonsense decisions every day that a computer can never make."

Plus, he says it will take away jobs for the sake of improving profit margins and he doesn't want that for the next generation of truckers in Colorado: "I hope that they can enjoy the same kind of career that I've had; a long, healthy, and safe career and to be good providers for their families."