Teamsters and police oppose South Dakota bill allowing autonomous vehicles

The Teamsters Union and South Dakota law enforcement officers are both opposing a bill in that state that would potentially allow autonomous vehicles (AVs) to operate on South Dakota roads without a human operator behind the wheel.

The debate concerns House Bill 1095, which passed out of the state’s House Energy and Commerce Committee earlier this week. Opposition to that move has come from Teamsters Local 120 and the South Dakota Peace Officers Association (SDPOA), who say the technology behind autonomous vehicles has not matured enough to operate on public roads.

“Driverless technology is not ready for primetime. Allowing these dangerous vehicles to operate on our roads without a human operator behind the wheel is madness,” said Tom Erickson, Teamsters Central Region International Vice President and President of Local 120. “This bill was written by California tech companies that want to use public roads as lab rats, regardless of the safety risks or impact on working class jobs. Our careers should not be test subjects for Silicon Valley.”

The groups also warned against the impact that driverless cars and trucks could have on emergency response, noting that in San Francisco, AVs have blocked police from responding to the scene of a shooting, crashed into a firetruck, obstructed ambulances, caused massive traffic jams, and dragged a woman for 20 feet after striking her.

“As active and retired law enforcement personnel in South Dakota, we believe that House Bill 1095 will make our roadways significantly more dangerous and make it more difficult for first responders to do our jobs protecting the public,” David H. Miller, President of the SDPOA, wrote in a letter to lawmakers. “We have watched closely as driverless cars have hit the roads in cities across the country, and we have been alarmed by what we have seen. We urge our lawmakers to consider the public safety risk associated with autonomous vehicles and vote against House Bill 1095.”

The debate comes as truck fleets and autonomous tech vendors are already conducting pilot programs and building “truckports” in other states, such as a project in Texas announced this week by Ryder System Inc. and Kodiak Robotics, a project in Arkansas run by Tyson Foods and Gatik, Knight-Swift using Embark Trucks in California and Arizona, and Uber Freight running Aurora Innovation trucks in Texas.