![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/250609-LuriePresser-04-BL_qed.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLurie\u2019s letter to the state transportation secretary comes just weeks after a massive backup of stalled Waymo vehicles snarled the city\u2019s Fourth of July festivities. <\/p>\n
Jul 16, 2026<\/p>\n
Updated 4:36 pm PT<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mayor Daniel Lurie speaks at a press conference with public safety leaders in San Francisco on June 9, 2025. Lurie sent a letter to state officials in the wake of two recent incidents involving Waymo calling for greater regulation around the operation of autonomous vehicles. \u00a0(Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/p>\n
After recent traffic meltdowns involving Waymo<\/a> vehicles during major events<\/a>, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is calling on state regulators to set new standards for autonomous vehicles.<\/p>\n The mayor sent a letter to state Secretary of Transportation Toks Omishakin on Thursday highlighting the recent traffic jams involving Waymo cars on the Fourth of July and last year during the city\u2019s widespread power outages.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cRegulating for typical conditions is no longer enough,\u201d Lurie wrote. \u201cCalifornia\u2019s challenge now is not just whether autonomous vehicles can operate safely under normal conditions, but also whether they can perform reliably during extraordinary ones.\u201d<\/p>\n Lurie, a moderate Democrat, has championed San Francisco as the birthplace of autonomous vehicles, which he views as a boon to the city\u2019s local economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n But criticism after high-profile events like the Fourth of July fireworks display over the Golden Gate Bridge, when dozens of stalled Waymo vehicles delayed traffic, has led him to strike a more tempered tune around Waymo and other self-driving car companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lurie wrote that all autonomous vehicle companies should be able to prove they are ready for large crowds and changing traffic patterns during major events before they are deployed.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEven before the fireworks began, Waymo vehicles struggled to navigate growing volumes of vehicular traffic and pedestrians. By the end of the fireworks show, autonomous vehicles became immobilized in travel lanes, blocking key streets and ultimately bringing traffic to a standstill. Muni shuttles were trapped in the gridlock,\u201d the letter read.<\/p>\n The California Public Utilities Commission and Department of Motor Vehicles regulate autonomous vehicles, and while Lurie\u2019s letter could help generate attention and pressure, he has little authority to set standards for the technology, even in his own city.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lurie\u2019s letter to the state transportation secretary comes just weeks after a massive backup of stalled Waymo vehicles…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6721,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-401467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_0073.jpg\")
More than 30 Waymos became stuck in the only parking area for the San Francisco fireworks show on July 4, 2026, blocking parking for hours.<\/p>\n