Wednesday, March 25, members of the California Gig Workers Union, SEIU 1021, and the community rallied outside the nation’s largest robotaxi depot in the country at 201 Toland Street, San Francisco, to announce SB 1246, legislation to regulate autonomous vehicles.

As autonomous vehicles (AVs), or robotaxis, increasingly hit California roads and more companies prepare to launch services, gig drivers and community allies are calling for statewide legislation to close critical regulatory gaps.

“We want to encourage technology, we want to make our lives easier, we want all that stuff, but we don’t want it at the expense of our community’s safety,” said Vikaas Shanker, a member of California Gig Workers Union and a rideshare driver of 10 years.

Currently, many remote operators overseeing AVs are based outside the United States. Existing California law does not require these operators to hold California driver’s licenses, limit how many autonomous vehicles remote operators can monitor, or ensure they are physically available to assist emergency responders during incidents. These loopholes raise serious safety and accountability concerns while straining public resources.

“If autonomous vehicles depend on remote operators to function properly, then that support must be immediate, reliable, and adequately staffed at all times, especially during emergencies,” said Trevor Adams, chapter president of the SFMTA parking enforcement chapter. “There have been far too many times when city workers like me have had no way to move a stuck robotaxi that’s blocking traffic. We need SB 1246 so that AV corporations will be required to send a real person when things go wrong, so that these AV corporations aren’t treating city services as roadside assistance for their broken autonomous vehicles.”

Senator Cortese (D-San Jose) unveiled details of proposed legislation to address AV safety issues, promote responsible deployment, and ensure safer roads for all Californians. SB 1246 would:

• Require a sufficient number of U.S.-based, trained, and California-licensed staff to supervise autonomous vehicles.
• Ensure AV corporations send a person within 10 minutes to crashes, hazards, or stalled vehicles, so that city and county workforces aren’t having to serve as roadside assistance for disabled robotaxis.
• Equip first responders with the tools to manually move disabled vehicles if they are blocking roads or creating dangerous delays.
• Empower local governments to issue fines when autonomous vehicles block traffic or interfere with emergency response, with escalating penalties for repeated violations.
• Require transparent monthly safety reporting; AV rideshare corporations would be required to report monthly data on safety incidents, including how often vehicles become immobilized, how quickly companies respond, and how frequently human intervention is required. This information would be made publicly available.

Rallies were scheduled to be held in five cities throughout the day on March 25th to voice strong support for SB 1246. Other than San Francisco, rallies were held in Fresno, Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose.