What We’re Reading

• California explores allowing self-driving semitrucks despite stiff opposition: ‘You cannot program instinct into a computer’ (Fortune, January 30, 2023)

  With the California DMV and lawmakers workshopping the introduction of autonomous semi-trucks on California roads, and considering news rules that would permit self-driving vehicles weighing up to 80,000 pounds, labor unions are scrambling to respond. On January 30, “more than 100 of members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters joined Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, a Democrat from Winters, as she announced new legislation to require all self-driving semitrucks have a human driver present to oversee them.”

  Supporters of the proposed legislation are focused on safety—with veteran teamsters sharing stories from the road in which they claim their human instinct saved lives—as well as their livelihoods. And with 500,000 truckers on the road in California alone, the state has “outsized importance in terms of shaping national transportation policy.”

  AV industry advocates “have argued that autonomous trucks would make for safer roadways, asserting computers make fewer mistakes than humans.” AVIA responded to the proposed legislation by pointing to its Executive Director’s statements regarding the potential for autonomous trucks to fill labor shortages and calling for rulemaking to support a gradual phase-in of the technology.

  Additional perspective on this developing story is available at The Sacramento Bee and California’s ABC 10 (with video).

• San Francisco wants to slow robotaxi rollout over blocked traffic and false 911 calls (The Verge, January 29, 2023)

  San Francisco transportation officials have requested that Waymo and Cruise slow the expansion of their robotaxi services in the city.  In two letters written to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), San Francisco County’s Transportation Authority officials categorized the expansion of either service as “unreasonable,” citing multiple incidents where driverless vehicles blocked traffic and interrupted services of emergency responders. The letters further detailed growing concern over the inability of driverless vehicles to properly and safely react to the complex driving situations posed by San Francisco streets.

  As an alternative to more widespread use, “[a] series of limited deployments with incremental expansions—rather than unlimited authorizations—offer the best path toward public confidence in driving automation and industry success in San Francisco and beyond,” the letters read.

  According to the article, the San Francisco Transportation Authority “wants more transparency and additional safeguards put in place. Officials say companies should be required to collect more data about the performance of the vehicles, including how often and how long their driverless vehicles block traffic. It also wants to restrict AV companies from operating on San Francisco’s ‘downtown core streets’ during peak travel hours until they prove that they can consistently operate ‘without significant interruption of street operations and transit services.’”

• Consumer Reports calls Ford's automated driving tech much better than Tesla's (CNN Business, January 25, 2023)

• Consumer Reports recently tested ADAS from twelve manufacturers—including Tesla, Ford, GM/Cadillac, Mercedes, BMW, Toyota/Lexus, and VW/Audi—putting the systems through 40 different tests to gauge basic functions like steering and driver communication.  The verdict? Ford’s BlueCruise was ranked first, with Tesla’s autopilot a distant seventh. Systems offered by Hyundai/Kia/Genesis ranked last.

  “BlueCruise has two major differences from Tesla Autopilot, and most of the others. First, the Ford system is designed to allow drivers to leave their hands off the steering wheel for long periods of time while driving on highways that have been pre-mapped in detail. Second, BlueCruise uses an infrared camera inside the car to monitor the driver's face and make sure they are paying attention to the road ahead.” In placing Ford’s system first among the rankings, Consumer Reports placed emphasis on the second of these distinctions: driver monitoring technology.

  Across the board, Consumer Reports found the vehicle owner’s manuals to be “of little use in learning how to use the systems,” calling them “vague” and “tools used to reduce manufacturer liability.”

  Read more about the rankings from Consumer Reports, including a detailed breakdown by system, here.