--- title: "San Francisco Sues to Get Nuisance Self-Driving Cars Off Its Streets" description: "The city of San Francisco has filed a lawsuit to get those pesky autonomous vehicles off of its streets, appealing a recent decision." date: "2024-01-26" modified: "2024-01-26" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/san-francisco-sues-self-driving-cars-streets" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Self-Driving Vehicles" tags: - "cruise" - "driverless cars" - "san francisco" - "the digest" - "waymo" --- # San Francisco Sues to Get Nuisance Self-Driving Cars Off Its Streets ![The city of San Francisco has filed a lawsuit to get those pesky autonomous vehicles off of its streets, appealing a recent decision.]() *\Image: Cruise\* ## The AV Club The city of San Francisco has filed a lawsuit to get those pesky autonomous vehicles off its streets. The lawsuit was filed in December against a state commission, the [*Washington Post* reports](), which made a decision in August that allowed both Google's Waymo and General Motors' Cruise to run expanded driverless taxi services in the city. The decision allowed both companies to run their services 24/7 without a safety driver behind the wheel citywide. Now, the city is arguing that it was a reckless decision that put residents in danger. "As driverless \[autonomous vehicle services\] expanded in San Francisco, members of the public and city officials identified hundreds of safety incidents, including interference with first responders," the lawsuit reads. "Despite these serious safety incidents, and over the objections of San Francisco, the commission approved requests by Cruise and Waymo to operate." ## Poor Performance It's only the latest in a series of escalations against the companies following a [string of alarming safety incidents](). However, the latest lawsuit likely won't impact Cruise. In October, a woman was found trapped and injured underneath a driverless Cruise vehicle, triggering an investigation by regulators. Weeks later, Cruise [announced]() that it's "proactively" pausing driverless operations of its entire fleet across the United States, just days after California [yanked its robotaxi permit]() due to safety concerns. Weeks later, Cruise [laid off]() almost a quarter of its self-driving car workforce. Then, General Motors [slashed its budget](). Meanwhile, Waymo spokesperson Julia Ilina told *WaPo* that the company is "disappointed" in the city's appeal of the state commission's decision. "However, we remain confident in our ability to continue safely serving San Francisco’s visitors and residents," she added. Both companies [maintain that]() their driverless cabs make city streets safer, not more dangerous, citing cherry-picked data that [still doesn't offer]() a comprehensive picture of the situation. And it's still unclear if the latest lawsuit will be successful in getting the state commission to change its mind about allowing autonomous vehicles to roam free. "San Francisco believes that autonomous vehicles will be a beneficial part of our city’s future, but in the meantime, while allowing this technology to develop, we must act to protect the safety of our residents and visitors," said city attorney David Chiu in a statement obtained by *WaPo*. "Poor AV performance has caused serious problems on San Francisco streets, jeopardizing public safety and emergency response," he added. **More on Cruise:** *[General Motors to Slash Spending on Robotaxis After Disastrous Year]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()