{"id":48038,"date":"2026-04-11T23:07:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T23:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=48038"},"modified":"2026-04-11T23:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T23:07:10","slug":"california-bill-aims-to-put-more-human-operators-on-robotaxis-like-waymos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=48038","title":{"rendered":"California bill aims to put more human operators on robotaxis like Waymo&#8217;s"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A Silicon Valley lawmaker wants to require robotaxis like Google\u2019s Waymo to hire human operators to be on standby locally in case the system goes haywire \u2013 like it did last winter when a blackout in San Francisco created a logjam of <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/12\/24\/business\/waymo-rolls-out-software-update-after-blackout-stranded-robotaxis-across-san-francisco\/\">paralyzed robot cars<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The legislative push \u2014 which Waymo described as potentially crippling \u2014 comes after the company\u2019s chief safety officer Mauricio Pe\u00f1a sparked outrage for admitting in US Senate testimony that the crucial human helpers it relies on live in the Philippines. The admission came as lawmakers grilled the company after one of its vehicles <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/29\/us-news\/child-hit-by-waymo-near-elementary-school-in-santa-monica\/\">struck a child<\/a> walking to school in Santa Monica.<\/p>\n<p>State Sen. David Cortese, a San Jose Dem, says his new bill would ensure tech companies react more quickly during emergencies and keep robotaxis from blocking the path of emergency vehicles.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>A Silicon Valley lawmaker wants to require robotaxis like Google\u2019s Waymo to hire human operators to be on standby locally. <span class=\"credit\">Gado via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, reports of AVs obstructing traffic, competing with first responders, and driving through active law enforcement activities continue to abound,\u201d Cortese said as he introduced the legislation earlier this week.<\/p>\n<p>Humans need to be based nearby to address \u201cambiguous situations\u201d in real time, he added.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Cortese\u2019s bill would require autonomous-vehicle companies to hire remote drivers and assistants based in the US and licensed in California, and mandate a staffing ratio of one human for every three vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>Under the proposed legislation, a trained autonomous-vehicle worker would be required to arrive on scene within 10 minutes if called. Each robotaxi would also need a manual override option to allow public-safety officials to take over, though similar capabilities already exist.<\/p>\n<p>The proposal advanced out of the state Senate Transportation Committee with a 7-2 vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>State Sen. David Cortese, a San Jose Democrat. <span class=\"credit\">Xavier Mascarenas\/TNS via ZUMA Press Wire \/ Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Waymo, run by co-CEOs Tekedra Mawakana and Dmitri Dolgov, currently operates about 3,000 vehicles nationwide, while roughly 30 other companies have pending permit applications.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Waymo and other industry representatives called Cortese\u2019s bill overkill and said they\u2019re already addressing similar safety requirements, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/california\/article\/waymo-robotaxis-bill-safer-22197713.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-nyp-affiliate=\"true\">the San Francisco Chronicle reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"single__inline-module inline-module inline-module--newsletter aligncenter inline-module--nypostbusinessunit aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-newsletter\" data-source-unit=\"Inline Newsletter Module Morning Report\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__title-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__unsubmitted-title-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Industry lobbyist Sarah Boot said existing California regulations already require companies to continuously monitor each autonomous vehicle, according to the report. She added that starting in July, human operators will be required to respond to emergency personnel within 30 seconds and move a vehicle, if instructed, within two minutes or face a report to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe should not layer on a second overlapping system before the first one is even implemented,\u201d Boot said at a recent hearing, adding that companies have spent the past two years developing compliance programs to meet the new rules.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Waymo is run by co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images for TechCrunch<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>She said a provision in Cortese\u2019s bill to halt operations for companies that violate the requirements three times could make for a de-facto ban on the state\u2019s autonomous-vehicle market.<\/p>\n<p>State Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, said requirements like the 10-minute response mandate were overly rigid.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wish I could get around San Francisco in 10 minutes,\u201d Wiener said. \u201cI can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meagan Subers, a lobbyist for the California Professional Firefighters union, said the bill would help prevent robotaxis from blocking fire station access or parking on fire hoses, according to the Chronicle.<\/p>\n<p>Waymo didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/10\/business\/california-bill-aims-to-put-more-human-operators-on-robotaxis-like-waymos\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Silicon Valley lawmaker wants to require robotaxis like Google\u2019s Waymo to hire human operators to be on standby locally in case the system goes haywire&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/48039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}