Waymo in MN: Lawmakers, drivers to speak out against proposal on self-driving vehicles

Waymo in MN: Lawmakers question safety of vehicles

Minnesota lawmakers and labor union representatives are pushing for strict regulations on autonomous vehicle companies like Waymo. Senator Erin Maye Quade and Representative Samantha Sencer-Mura have introduced legislation to create an independent advisory board.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Lawmakers and ride-hailing app drivers are sounding the alarm as a proposal that would allow self-driving vehicles, like Waymo, to operate in Minnesota gets considered in the state legislatures.

Lawmakers oppose bill

What we know:

Sen. Erin Maye Quade, Representative Samantha Sencer-Mura, ride-hailing app drivers, and union leaders raised concerns about the safety of self-driving vehicles and the potential economic consequences of the vehicles during a news conference on Tuesday.

"This is not about whether the technology will advance or not," said Sen. Maye Quade. "It's about how we guide those advancements so peoples, workers, children and families aren't casualties in the name of progress."

"Before we allow large autonomous vehicle companies to operate freely and generate profit using Minnesota's public infrastructure, we owe Minnesotans clear answers," added Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura. "You will hear bills this week in the House saying, we should just let these vehicles and these companies run freely and just have industry regulate itself. But we believe that Minnesotans simply want some commonsense steps to ensure the safety and security of our state."

Big picture view:

A bill being proposed by Sen. Maye Quade and Rep. Sencer-Mura would create an independent advisory board and mandate a comprehensive study on self-driving vehicles.

The bill would also ensure tech companies could be held accountable for the operation fo their vehicles and requires algorithmic transparency.

Waymo testing in Minneapolis

The backstory:

In November, Waymo announced it would begin testing vehicles in Minnesota.

A bill proposed in the Minnesota House and Senate would set regulations for autonomous vehicles in the state.

The bill requires autonomous vehicles to meet specific safety standards and comply with Minnesota's traffic laws. Vehicles must achieve a minimal risk condition if the automated driving system fails.

The bill also requires a first responder interaction plan. This document will guide first responders on how to safely interact with autonomous vehicles, including communication with fleet support specialists.

Local perspective:

Right now, the rules for self-driving vehicles in Minnesota are unclear and current language may not explicitly block self-driving vehicles from operating.

A review in 2015 by the University of Minnesota Journal of Law, Science and Technology concluded that Minnesota's current laws do not explicitly prevent self-driving vehicles from operating.

However, speaking on Tuesday, Rep. Sencer-Mura said: "I think it is unclear right now whether or not they could start operating autonomously without a change in legislation… Frankly, it opens up a lot of potential gray areas in the law that could lead to lawsuits. I think we have heard from Waymo that they don't feel comfortable with the language, as is, to start operating autonomously. I don't know that we can take them on there at their word for that. And so I certainly feel a lot of pressure this session to make sure that we pass something that ensures these vehicles don't just start operating on our roads autonomously without any guardrails in place."