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Pushback against Waymo cars in San Mateo County
On the pushback, the county's board sited safety concerns and technical issues as major factors in its stance. Sen. Dave Cortese also says the bill that will give local governments more control and hold driverless car companies more accountable.
REDWOOD CITY, CA - San Mateo County's Board of Supervisors says it wants the California Public Utility Commission to reconsider allowing Waymo to operate in the county. The board is also supporting a proposed bill that will allow local governments to decide if they want driverless cars on the road.
The Board cited safety concerns and technical issues as major factors in its stance. Senator Dave Cortese also says the bill will give local governments more control and hold driverless car companies more accountable.
"This technology is not ready for primetime" said David Canepa, San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Vice President.
San Mateo County Board Supervisor David Canepa says the board has unanimously decided to support Senate Bill 915, which will give local governments the power to decide if it wants driverless cars on its streets. Right now, the CPUC decides where driverless companies can operate, and it approved Waymo’s application to expand to San Mateo County last month.
"The last thing I want to do is to make Highway 101 a beaker in Waymo’s science project. I want to make sure we have speeds going at about 65 mph. I want to make sure that people are safe. Look, in San Francisco, they’ve had a multitude of problems," said Canepa.
Over the last two weeks in San Francisco, a bicyclist was struck and injured by a Waymo driverless car and another Waymo car was set on fire by a group of people in Chinatown. State Senator Dave Cortese from San Jose says he’s proposing SB 915 because local governments have no way to regulate driverless cars.
"We’re going to fix that loophole in the law, and we’re going to let cities and counties start putting ordinances together, laws together at the local level as they see fit for their particular community. It may be different from one community to another," said Cortese.
Cortese says he believes driverless car technology will continue to improve, but regulation should happen at the local level.
"I think what they’ve proven to us is that they’re not quite there, and we certainly need to let local communities like San Francisco and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors come up with their own rules to protect people," said Cortese.
In a statement, Waymo says that it did provide information about the company to the Board of Supervisors and several other stakeholders before applying for the permit.
The board is now waiting for a decision from the CPUC and Cortese says it may take a year for the bill to work its way through the legislature.