The Governor of California, Gavin Newsom shut down a proposed ban of driverless trucks in California. He vetoed a bill, Assembly Bill 316, which would have banned all driverless trucks from driving in the state. The bill had reached his desk after passing through the state Senate. Newsom explained that he views the attempted regulation as unnecessary and too rigorous of a regulatory action against autonomous vehicles in the state. The ban would have also overstepped a currently in action law that creates the proper room for a structure to be put in place for autonomous vehicle driving in California.

Back in 2012, the DMV was given permission to form regulations for testing and use of the roads in California.

Anytime the DMV has to establish a rule or regulation they consult the different agencies that the rules would affect. For example, they consult the California Highway Patrol and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They are also then responsible for conducting tests and holding operations to maintain the safety of self-driving vehicles. They then have the power to suspend or entirely revoke permits.

The bill that banned entirely autonomous vehicles proposed the need for a human driver to be inside any vehicle that weighs more than 10,000 pounds. Stakeholders in self-driving tech companies were adamantly against the bill as was the DMV, since they are the ones responsible for creating the regulations.

The executive director of the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association, Jeff Farrah, released a statement saying “"We look forward to continuing to work with the California DMV, California Highway Patrol, Labor and Workforce Development Agency and other state regulators that are evaluating the future of autonomous trucking technology in the state.”

Many in the trucking industry felt singled out by the ban given its weight restriction.

The ban proposed the action be taken against vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds. While they never directly said this applied to trucks in particular, the weight class makes it clear that autonomous trucks are the target.

Some people against the ban felt that it would push California back in time. They spoke on the pride of being engineers of innovation, so to restrict them in that way would be pushing them out of that.