In the immediate aftermath of the June 9 mass shooting in the Mission District, much internet anger was directed at a cruise robotic taxi that allegedly blocked the emergency response to the attack.
The facts came to light after the immediate excitement on social media had died down. Both Cruise and the San Francisco Police Department said the autonomous vehicle did not impede responders or interfere with the investigation.
But as law enforcement and transportation officials in San Francisco increasingly interact with the new technology, one issue that is baffling local authorities is the fact that autonomous vehicles — unlike human drivers — are not responsible for common traffic violations such as reckless driving or autonomous driving speeding can be held responsible mode.
Though an unlimited expansion of San Francisco’s cruise and Waymo fleets could happen as early as the end of the month, the legal gray area would likely require a change in new state laws.
Additionally, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, there is no mechanism in state law for such violations, resulting in penalties prohibiting the use of an autonomous vehicle on public roads.
Led by the SFMTA, local officials have taken concerted action to slow the deployment of autonomous vehicles on city streets. Although the technology is primarily regulated at the state level, local officials have attempted to reach out to state and federal regulators.
Jeffrey Tumlin, Director of Transportation, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency | Justin Katigbak for The Standard
Jeffrey Tumlin, director of transportation at SFMTA, said the city lacks the legal authority to citation autonomous vehicles for traffic violations, in part because there is no person to citation.
“If you’re a police officer out there and a vehicle violates vehicle regulations, which happens every day in San Francisco, who do you report?” Tumlin said in an interview. “More work needs to be done to clarify what happens when an autonomous vehicle breaks the law.”
A document governing the San Francisco Police Department’s interactions with autonomous vehicles, issued last September and signed by Chief Bill Scott, contains two lines that appear to be at odds.
The document states: “There are no exemptions for AVs from the Highway Code or other specific regulations of the.” [California vehicle code].” However, it also notes that “this time, no traffic violation charge can be issued when the AV is operated in driverless mode.”
When asked about the discrepancy, an SFPD spokesman said, “To my knowledge, there are no parking tickets in California for self-driving vehicles committing traffic violations.”
The spokesman said autonomous vehicles can be charged with “repair” violations such as a broken taillight, but referred other issues to state authorities.
When asked about their guidelines on citing autonomous vehicles, the California Public Utilities Commission referred the investigation to the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles.
A department representative said the SFMTA has the ability to cite driverless AV vehicles based on local municipal regulations regarding traffic delays, but added that the DMV has no power to enforce traffic violations. The agency said that a requirement for a company to receive a self-driving permit is that the “vehicle is designed to recognize and respond to situations on the road.”
“If there is a disproportionate risk to public safety, the DMV can immediately suspend or revoke permits,” the agency said in a statement.
A Waymo car drives down a street in San Francisco on March 1, 2023. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Robotaxi companies like Cruise have said their public safety records and data sharing with regulators go far beyond what typical human drivers need to do. A Cruise representative also noted that the SFMTA has cited autonomous vehicles in San Francisco for other violations.
SFMTA currently has the ability to flag autonomous vehicles for parking violations as well as violations recorded by red light cameras, as these are tied to a vehicle and not an individual driver.
According to the SFMTA, Cruise has committed more than 40 of those violations since last June, ranging from parking in a bus zone to double parking to obstructing traffic. Waymo committed more than 90 such violations during the same period. According to SFMTA records, some of these tickets are unpaid.
Tumlin, who has strongly opposed the immediate, unlimited spread of autonomous vehicles over safety concerns, said city officials are lobbying the Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Public Utilities Commission for new rules. However, barring action from state regulators, new legislation from state legislatures would be required.
In a signed statement submitted to the state supply commission, Shawn McCormick, SFMTA director of parking enforcement and traffic, said he observed Cruise and Waymo vehicles commit traffic violations by illegally entering a marked work site.
Other movement violations recorded and shared via social media include examples of autonomous vehicles driving into the scene of an active fire and failing to avoid an emergency vehicle with its siren on. Under current law, these violations of self-driving car regulations are unenforceable.
“There have been instances where the vehicles would practically freak out and stop in the middle of the street,” said Floyd Rollins, the president of San Francisco Fire Fighters Local 978. Rollins said he wasn’t aware that autonomous vehicles could not be named for common move violations and called the fact “very disturbing”.
Firefighters were trained on how to contact autonomous vehicle manufacturers’ central guidance systems in an emergency, but Rollins likened that process to the reality of responding to an emergency.
“In an emergency, who takes the time to pick up the phone and call someone?” Rollins said. “Nine times out of ten, when we’re dealing with something, it’s a matter of minutes.”
He worries that without cooperation to resolve this issue, it’s only a matter of time before a tight decision turns into something much worse.
“Somebody has to take responsibility and take care of it before something really goes wrong,” Rollins said.
Editor Julie Makinen contributed to this report.
