Governor Gavin Newsom vetoes bill to have human drivers in autonomous trucks

CALIFORNIA, U.S.A (KION-TV)- Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would require human drivers inside self-driving trucks.

Governor Newsom says this bill is unnecessary since existing laws provide sufficient help to keep these driverless vehicles safe on the road.

On September 20th state lawmakers, union leaders, and truck drivers urged Governor Newsom to sign Assembly Bill 316.

This bill would ban self driving trucks that weighed more than 10,000 pounds on the road unless human drivers are on board.

This ranges from UPS trucks to semi-trucks.

The Teamsters Union says this bill would have protected drivers on the road and saved thousands of jobs.

To counter the safety concerns Governor Newsom pointed to a 2012 legislation that was signed to regulate safe operations of autonomous vehicles on the road.

The Teamsters Union says there are about 200,000 commercial truck drivers in California.