California Governor Veto Of The Law On Prohibition Of Heavy Autonomous Trucks

The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, veto draft law. (photo: twitter @CA_Dem)

JAKARTA - California Governor Gavin Newsom has rejected a bill aimed at preventing heavy autonomous trucks from operating in the state. The veto decision is good news for companies developing autonomous technology to transport goods across the United States.

The Assembly Law, which is supported by a union, namely Law 316, requires a trained human driver to be present in an autonomous vehicle weighing more than 10,001 pounds. This law has been passed by a large majority in both state legislative councils.

"Considering... the current regulatory framework and sufficient to regulate this particular technology, this law is not needed at this time," Newsom said in a veto message on Friday, September 22.

Although a governor can reject a law (veto), the law can still be overturned if the legislative council chooses to vote in favor of it by a majority of two-thirds in each board. This is a rare situation and the last time it happened in California in 1979.

While many states, including Texas and Arkansas, have allowed testing and operations of autonomous trucks, California - as home to Alphabet, Apple, and some of the most advanced technology companies - have instead banned autonomous trucks weighing more than 10,001 pounds.

However, motor vehicle departments have been working on developing a regulatory framework to remove the restrictions, prompting the drafting of the law, according to sources interviewed by Reuters.

The development of autonomous technology turned out to be more difficult and more expensive than expected, resulting in job cuts and even closing companies. Some companies are still testing and implementing autonomous truck operations including Aurora, Daimler Truck, Kodiak Robotics, and Gatik.

Autonomous tech proponents say the law will hamper opportunities for achieving autonomous transport of goods, for example, from busy ports in Southern California to locations across states, and cause future investments in autonomous infrastructure to flow to other countries.

However, labor unions led by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters have asked the Newsom Governor to sign the law, arguing that autonomous trucks - some of which weigh more than 80,000 pounds - are unsafe and will cause job loss.

Newsom's governor in a veto message said any regulation designed by the motor vehicle department would be transparent, with input from stakeholders and experts to ensure safety.

He also ordered labor and labor development agents to develop recommendations to reduce potential impacts on jobs due to the use of such vehicles.