California supports ban on self-driving trucks without a driver in cab

On Monday, September 11, California legislators supported bill that would ban the operation of autonomous vehicles without a human inside.

Prior to this, California law allowed autonomous vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds to be tested and operated without a person inside the vehicle.

The new bill would “prohibit the operation of autonomous vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more on public roads for the purposes of testing, transporting goods, or passengers without a safety operator physically present in the autonomous vehicle during operation.”

AB 316 now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom to either sign or veto. The governor is expected to veto it, but it is too early to make any predictions.

The bill was introduced in the California Legislature on January 23, 2023 by Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and has strong support from the California Labor Federation, which argues that autonomous vehicle technology threatens road safety.