San Francisco Is Fed Up With Autonomous Cars Causing Gridlock Even the most progressive politicians have a breaking point. For San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, that point was provided by brain-dead robotaxis turning the Fourth of July holiday weekend into a total traffic nightmare. Lurie, who famously pushed for San Francisco to become a ground zero for emerging vehicle technologies, is changing his tune. The mayor has officially sent a formal letter to the California Department of Transportation demanding a significant overhaul of the state's autonomous vehicle regulatory framework. The pivot comes directly in the wake of a massive Fourth of July traffic meltdown on the city’s northern waterfront that left thousands of humans completely stranded. The city's fireworks display over the Golden Gate Bridge drew more than 100,000 spectators. As the inevitable gridlock set in following the show, dozens of Waymo autonomous vehicles became utterly bewildered by the surging traffic volumes and heavy pedestrian foot traffic. Instead of routing away or safely pulling over, more than 30 driverless vehicles froze in active travel lanes and parking zones. Exacerbating the calamity, several of the idling robotaxis completely exhausted their battery reserves while stuck, which then trapped municipal buses. Because of the multi-layered gridlock, even getting tow trucks to the scene of the blockage proved nearly impossible, with some vehicle recoveries stretching past three hours. Lurie's letter—first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle—also called back to another major failure from last December, when a power outage knocked out traffic lights across a third of the city. It caused dozens of driverless cars to freeze inside active intersections, paralyzing the city's grid and emergency first responders. "California’s current regulatory framework does not adequately address how autonomous vehicles operate during major incidents, planned or not," Lurie wrote. "California’s challenge now is not just