As Waymo Safety Concerns Mount, Lawsuit Contends DMV Decision Skirted the Law; Kept Public in the Dark about Economic, Jobs, and Safety Impact
OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Teamsters California sued the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) today, asserting the agency circumvented laws requiring the agency to study and publicly disclose the economic impacts of allowing self-driving heavy-duty trucks on the state’s roads, thereby denying the public meaningful input on the decision.
The lawsuit also charges that the DMV failed to consider the safety risks to motorists sharing the road with self-driving trucks that are still being tested and have not been fully vetted. The suit, filed in Alameda Superior Court, contends the process by which the DMV implemented regulations authorizing the testing of self-driving heavy-duty trucks was so fundamentally flawed that the regulations must be repealed.
“Every day brings new evidence that Waymo robotaxis are putting public safety at risk, and those dangers scale up exponentially with trucks that are up to 16 times heavier and moving at highway speeds,” said Peter Finn, Co-Chair of Teamsters California. “Such a critical decision with life-and-death consequences must involve public input and transparency — that is why Teamsters California is taking the DMV to court and demanding California follow the law and thoroughly study the consequences of allowing 80,000-pound driverless vehicles on our roads before actually permitting them.”
In April 2026, the DMV enacted regulations for the first time that allow commercial trucks and other vehicles over 10,000 pounds to operate fully autonomously on public roads in California. To avoid a required study and public disclosure of the economic impacts of such a sweeping change, the DMV used a shortcut process meant for minor regulatory updates with less than $50 million in costs or benefits in the first year after implementation. According to the lawsuit, the DMV’s rushed process vastly underestimated the costs of deploying self-driving trucks, outrageously claiming not a single job would be eliminated by autonomous heavy vehicles.
“Teamsters California will keep fighting for public safety and good jobs on every front: in the courtroom, at the ballot box, and into the next administration,” said Victor Mineros, Co-Chair of Teamsters California. “California’s leaders must put communities’ needs —not corporate greed — front and center.”
The lawsuit comes amid mounting concern over the safety of driverless vehicles and calls for stricter regulation of robotaxis. A recent poll found four in five California voters support legislation requiring all self-driving trucks and delivery vehicles operating on California public roads and freeways to have a human safety operator present at all times. Gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra has committed to reversing the DMV’s heavy-duty autonomous vehicle rules if elected.
Self-driving trucks are an existential threat to the livelihoods of Teamsters members in California who deliver food and other essentials and are a crucial economic engine for the state.
The writ petition is here. Teamsters California is represented in the lawsuit by Bush Gottlieb.
Media Contact:
Alexandra Banash, (510) 418-2612
alexandra@teamjc7.org
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SOURCE Teamsters California
