Labor Groups Urge For Investigation And Updated Policies Against Self-Driving Operators Waymo, Zoox, Beep: 'Vehicle Operations Are Unsafe'

Several unions and labor groups on Thursday wrote to the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) pressing for open investigations into automated vehicle operators including Waymo, Zoox and Beep. The call comes on the heels of NHTSA’s decision to launch an investigation into General Motors Co‘s (NYSE:GM) autonomous driving unit Cruise for safety concerns.

What Happened: Over 25 labor groups including United Auto Workers (UAW) wrote to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and NHTSA Acting Administrator Ann Carlson expressing expressing grave safety concerns about autonomous vehicles.

“Let us be clear: ADS-equipped vehicle operations are unsafe and untenable in their current form. This industry is in dire need of federal regulation and leadership to restore a modicum of safety and establish a realistic path for these vehicles to operate without threatening other road users – including those represented by these unions,” the letter stated. Among AV operators, the letter mentioned by name Alphabet Inc‘s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Waymo and Amazon.com‘s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Zoox.

In addition to an open investigation into AV operators, the unions have also pushed for an updated policy setting the expectations for these vehicles and updating NHTSA’s crash reporting policy to add driving into construction worksites, violations of police and firefighter cordons, pulling into bicycle lanes or pedestrian crossings, near collisions, and other safety issues which may not result in crashes in case of autonomous vehicles.

Why It’s Important: The union, among other incidents of AVs interception, also noted the accident involving a Cruise AV in early October. In the incident, a human-driven vehicle traveling adjacent to a Cruise AV collided with a pedestrian, sending the pedestrian across the vehicle and onto the ground in the path of the AV. The AV made contact with the pedestrian and pulled them forward by about 20 feet. 

The unions noted that the problem does not pertain to Cruise alone. “Put simply, we do not believe that Cruise is the most concerning driverless operator, but rather that current circumstances highlighted their mounting safety failures first,” the letter said.

However, it also simultaneously urged the agency to not allow for the operation of the company’s autonomous van called the Cruise Origin. “Given GM/Cruise's behavior operating a less advanced vehicle, granting its pending petition would be deeply irresponsible and inappropriate,” the letter said.

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