Union Has 4-Word Response After Suspension of Some Driverless Cars in CA

A local Teamsters union in California said the state's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) responded "too little, too late" in deciding to suspend permits for some driverless vehicles.

The California DMV announced the "immediate" suspension of General Motors' Cruise autonomous vehicle testing permits on Tuesday, writing in a press release that it determined based on the driverless vehicles' performance that they "are not safe for the public's operation" and that their manufacturer "misrepresented any information related to safety of the autonomous technology of its vehicles."

Teamsters Western Region International Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer Peter Finn of Teamsters Local 856 said in a press release that the DMV's decision "is a step in the right direction, but it's too little, too late." Finn added that the Northern California labor union "will not be appeased by baby steps or half-measures."

The union also expressed disappointment that the California DMV said Cruise could later apply to have its driverless permits reinstated, though the state agency "will not approve until the company has fulfilled the requirements to the department's satisfaction."

Finn said in the Teamsters release that regulators "should have enough foresight and operational savvy to know that the responsible thing to do is to make sure that automated driving systems are safe before they are introduced to the general public – not after they are introduced, and certainly not after driverless cars have caused traffic jams, injuries, and obstructions to first responders."

Newsweek reached out to the California DMV for comment via email on Tuesday.

The Teamsters rallied outside Cruise's San Francisco headquarters earlier Tuesday to push for "real regulation" of driverless vehicles, including Cruise's robotaxis. At the rally, which was streamed live on Facebook, participants cited a recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration probe into Cruise about pedestrian-related safety concerns. This review followed an earlier agreement that Cruise would reduce its number of operational driverless vehicles in San Francisco while a couple of crashes were investigated, according to the Associated Press.

California's Public Utilities Commission granted approval in August to Cruise and another driverless car company, Waymo LLC, to begin charging riders for transportation regardless of time of day in San Francisco. Prior to that decision, Cruise was allowed to charge people for driverless rides in the city between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. or offer rides for free at any time of day. In order to charge passengers during the daytime, Cruise previously needed to have a safety driver accompanying passengers in its autonomous vehicles.

In a Tuesday post on X, formerly Twitter, Cruise acknowledged the California DMV's Tuesday decision and said it "will be pausing" driverless vehicle operations in San Francisco. While the company said its vehicles are created and used to "save lives," the company statement acknowledged one recent crash it said the California DMV is investigating. The crash involved a human driver striking a pedestrian, who then fell in a Cruise driverless vehicle's path, the company said.

"The AV braked aggressively before impact and because it detected a collision, it attempted to pull over to avoid further safety issues," the statement said. "When the AV tried to pull over, it continued before coming to a final stop, pulling the pedestrian forward." The company said it shared information on the incident with state and federal authorities, communicated with local police and has been "in close contact with regulators to answer questions."

"Our teams are currently doing an analysis to identify potential enhancements to the AV's response to this kind of extremely rare event," the statement added.