San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is calling on California to overhaul its autonomous vehicle regulations after Waymo robotaxis stalled in traffic, ran out of battery power, and blocked key streets during the city's July 4 fireworks celebration, compounding hours of gridlock that trapped municipal shuttles and stranded thousands1,2,7.
In a letter sent to California's transportation secretary, Lurie pointed to two events — the July 4 fireworks show, which drew more than 100,000 spectators, and a widespread power outage in December — as evidence that the state's current regulatory framework "does not adequately address how autonomous vehicles operate during major incidents, planned or not". The San Francisco Chronicle first reported on the letter.
During the July 4 celebration, several autonomous vehicles stalled in travel lanes despite advance planning and a geofence intended to manage traffic. Tow trucks dispatched to remove disabled vehicles were unable to reach them, with some removals taking three to four hours. Lurie said reports indicated that public safety manual overrides did not work as designed for Waymo vehicles during the incident. Muni shuttle buses became trapped in the same congestion.
Christopher White, executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, said the celebration demonstrated how quickly autonomous vehicles can contribute to gridlock when traffic conditions become unpredictable. "It took a lot of people a very long time to get where they were going," White said. "There was a lot of road obstruction".
Lurie is asking the state to require autonomous vehicle companies to meet four core operational capabilities: preventing disabled vehicles from blocking travel lanes, adapting routes and service areas in real time during emergencies, sharing live operational data with city officials, and demonstrating through testing that their vehicles can safely handle large public events. The mayor's message to AV companies: "Prove it before you deploy it"5.
The California Department of Transportation said it is preparing a statement in response to Lurie's letter. Waymo, owned by Alphabet, said it has "successfully supported some of San Francisco's biggest events" and will continue working with city agencies. The company said it is collaborating with officials on lessons learned from the millions of rides it has provided in San Francisco. Waymo had agreed to restrict its service on July 4 near the waterfront and assigned a representative to the city's emergency center.
Separately, state Sen. Dave Cortese introduced SB 1246 in February, which would set legal standards requiring AV companies to promptly move stalled robotaxis off the road or face fines3. Under the bill, each failure to move cars or ensure first responders can move them would result in a $5,000 fine, rising to $10,000 if a stalled AV blocks first responders for more than 30 minutes. The bill is in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, and the Legislature has until August 31 to pass it and send it to Gov. Gavin Newsom. The Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association and 30 other industry groups and companies, including Waymo, opposed SB 1246 in a June 26 letter.
Waymo is estimated to have 1,000 robotaxis operating in the Bay Area and operates in 11 cities, completing more than 500,000 paid rides every week11. Six companies, including Nuro, Waymo, and Zoox, hold driverless testing permits in the San Francisco area.
The regulatory push follows a pattern of operational friction. During December's power outage, which left nearly 130,000 residents without electricity, Waymo told the California Public Utilities Commission its cars stopped 1,593 times for two minutes or more. Traffic signals went dark across roughly one-third of San Francisco, and autonomous vehicles stopped in intersections and blocked major streets. Since April 2025, Waymos have blocked first responders in the city 31 times.
ANALYSIS The convergence of Lurie's letter and Cortese's bill represents a two-track regulatory challenge for Waymo — one from the executive branch seeking new state standards, the other a legislative effort imposing direct financial penalties for operational failures. Lurie has previously voiced support for autonomous vehicle technology, making his intervention a notable shift in posture from a mayor who once said San Francisco should be a testbed for emerging tech.
The pressure in San Francisco adds to a broader set of operational challenges for Waymo's expanding fleet, following reports of 99 emergency calls for passengers who fell asleep in Waymo robotaxis in Austin during the company's first nine months of service there ctx and 21 new robotaxi crashes reported to federal regulators in the latest monthly Texas data ctx.