Self-driving Waymo taxis are not an uncommon sight on the streets of Washington these days, although they don’t quite drive themselves yet: Before the company offers autonomous service in an area, it needs to demonstrate the adequacy of its mapping and various supporting technologies by having cars with so-called safety drivers, who sit behind the wheel but don’t touch it.
Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, wants to keep them there. He’s planning to introduce what he is calling the Autonomous Vehicle Safety Act, which would require human safety drivers in any car that’s on the road. A better name for it would be the Thank Teamsters for Refusing to Endorse Kamala Harris Act.