Autonomous Trucks
The vehicles are “a menace to public safety that benefits private corporations at the expense of the public good,” San Francisco resident Joshua Babcock testified. Advocates argued self-driving vehicles can increase mobility for disabled people, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve public safety. The Teamsters union has sought to block the San Francisco expansion while pushing state legislation that would require autonomous trucks to have human drivers on board. ”But the San Francisco vote exposed some cracks in organized labor, with a pair of union locals embracing the companies’ expansion after Cruise committed to using their laborers to build charging facilities. “We can’t let them stand in the way of progress.”Supporters of the state bill have said San Francisco’s rocky experiment with self-driving vehicles proves the technology is not ready for wider-scale use.