LA councilmember pushes for more autonomous vehicle regulations as Waymo rolls out robotaxis

Los Angeles City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez made a plea Wednesday morning for more oversight and regulations of autonomous vehicles, saying Los Angeles streets should not be a testing ground for the technology. 

The councilmember introduced a motion Wednesday at City Hall urging state leaders to address public safety concerns and rein in the expansion of Waymo robotaxis on local streets.

The Teamsters, along with the International Association of Firefighters, joined Soto-Martinez at a press conference, echoing public safety concerns. The unions are also worried about potential job losses. 

"There have been so many problems with the autonomous vehicles up in San Francisco, we're concerned. Why are they testing on the streets of LA where our families are, where our children are, our precious grandchildren? They're testing. They don't have this down. We just don't think it's appropriate," said Chris Griswold of Teamsters Local 986.

Soto-Martinez's proposed motion now faces committee review before possibly heading to the council for a vote.

The motion follows the California Department of Motor Vehicles suspension of another company's autonomous vehicle permit in San Francisco. Cruise was in the spotlight following a crash with a pedestrian earlier this month. A car with a human driver hit a pedestrian, then an autonomous Cruise car ran over the woman, trapping and dragging her as the car attempted to pull over.

Cruise says it followed all safety protocols and issued a statement saying, "Our teams are currently doing an analysis to identify the potential enhancements to the AV's response to this kind of extremely rare event."

While Cruise does not have a permit to operate in LA, there are still concerns about the overall safety of autonomous vehicles. On Tuesday, Teamsters, labor leaders and allies gathered outside Google's Venice headquarters to protest the rollout of Waymo in the area. 

Google owns Waymo and introduced its 24-hour robotaxi service in Santa Monica in October. There are plans to expand to other LA cities over the next few months. Waymo already has autonomous driving services underway in San Francisco and Phoenix.  

"No one's against progress, but if you're going to eliminate jobs, you need to make sure there are jobs for people to go to – that just makes common sense," Teamster Western Region Vice President Lindsay Dougherty said at Tuesday's rally.