San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has called on California state regulators to strengthen oversight of autonomous vehicles after Waymo robotaxis became immobile during the city's July 4 fireworks celebration, ran out of power, and blocked key streets — compounding hours of gridlock that affected thousands of residents1,2,3.
In a letter sent Thursday to California's transportation secretary, Lurie pointed to two incidents — 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 fails to address how autonomous vehicles operate during major incidents. "California's current regulatory framework does not adequately address how autonomous vehicles operate during major incidents, planned or not," the letter stated.
During the July 4 celebration, several autonomous vehicles stalled in travel lanes despite a geofence intended to manage traffic. Muni shuttle buses became trapped in the same congestion, and some Waymo vehicles reportedly ran out of battery power. Tow trucks dispatched to remove disabled vehicles could not reach them, with some removals taking three to four hours. Christopher White, executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, said robotaxis struggled to navigate the crowds: "It took a lot of people a very long time to get where they were going. There was a lot of road obstruction".
Lurie also cited the December power outage, which left nearly 130,000 residents without electricity and caused traffic signals to go dark across roughly one-third of the city. During that event, autonomous vehicles stopped in intersections and blocked major streets.
The mayor outlined four core operational capabilities he wants autonomous vehicle manufacturers to demonstrate. Under his proposed framework, companies would be required to immediately remove or relocate robotaxis from active travel lanes, adapt routes and service areas in real time during emergencies, share live operational data — including immobile vehicle locations and recovery efforts — with local agencies, and demonstrate through testing that their vehicles can safely handle large public events. Lurie also said reports indicated that public safety manual overrides did not work as designed for Waymo vehicles during the July 4 gridlock.
Lurie wrote that companies like Waymo should be held to the same operational standards as other critical systems the city relies upon, and called the situation a public safety hazard, warning that emergency responders could have encountered the same wall of stalled vehicles during a major emergency.
Waymo, owned by Alphabet, 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 week4. The company had agreed to restrict its service on July 4 near the waterfront and assigned a representative to the city's emergency center. Waymo said it has successfully supported some of San Francisco's biggest events and is collaborating with officials on lessons learned from the millions of rides it has provided in the city. Following December's power outage, Waymo said it was updating its autonomous vehicles to better recognize outages, follow emergency traffic rules, and expand training with firefighters and police.
Six companies, including Nuro, Waymo, and Zoox, hold driverless testing permits in the San Francisco area. Any company operating a robotaxi service in California must navigate two permit processes — one from the DMV and one from the Public Utilities Commission. The California Department of Transportation said it is preparing a statement in response to Lurie's letter.
ANALYSIS Lurie has previously voiced support for autonomous vehicle technology, making his regulatory push a notable pivot that underscores the political pressure created by high-profile operational failures in dense urban settings. The proposed requirements — particularly real-time data sharing and mandatory vehicle relocation — would impose obligations that go well beyond the current permitting structure and could reshape the operating environment for all autonomous vehicle companies in California, not just Waymo.