California’s Showdown with Uber and Lyft Will Hasten Autonomous Cars
[Aug. 17, 2020]
California has a long history of social activism and progressive politics. These have cumulatively resulted in one of the highest-cost, highest-tax states in the U.S. There has also been an exodus over the last several decades of businesses and individuals whose politics or pragmatism didn’t align with an increasingly left-leaning Sacramento.
If I’ve already tipped you off that I’m not an unconditional Kool-Aid drinker of the Left’s party punch, you’re right. Neither am I a blind devotee of Fox News, and a believer that this country’s energy future is dependent on coal and oil (obviously).
California Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5), the so-called “gig worker” bill, was signed into law in September 2019. The authors and proponents of the bill claimed that it gave contract workers more protections from exploitation and entitlement to benefits usually afforded to full time employees.
Ride-sharing companies like Lyft are facing “gig worker” legal battles in California. (Image courtesy Lyft.)
Uber and Lyft sought to delay the implementation of AB 5, but on Aug. 10, a judge rejected their arguments and said the companies had until Aug. 20 to come into compliance with the new law or cease current operations in the state. The two ride-hailing giants are both appealing the ruling, as well as going on the offensive at the ballot box in November with Proposition 22, a proposition formally classifying ride-hailing drivers and other workers meeting certain guidelines as contract workers, and exempting their contracting companies from providing them with full-time employee benefits.
The enforcement of AB 5 comes on the heels of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) proposing that 60 percent of miles traveled by ride-hailing vehicles be zero emissions by 2030. While Lyft and Uber are publicly in favor of the zero-emissions initiatives, as they’re currently structured, the companies have no effective way to enforce or comply with the directive other than making an EV or fuel cell vehicle a requirement of being a driver.
Regardless of which way these issues go, one thing’s for certain: Uber and Lyft are going to redouble their efforts in developing autonomous technology, and push more aggressively at the regulatory level to have fully autonomous vehicles on the road. Although the 2018 death of Elaine Herzberg in an accident with an Uber autonomous test vehicle in Arizona was tragic and, in hindsight, likely avoidable, on the long road to autonomy it will be but a footnote.
Companies like Uber are actively developing autonomous vehicles, the result of which might make nobody happy. (Image courtesy Uber.)
The greater irony of the whole matter is the proponents of AB 5 and opponents of Proposition 22, which include Senator (now vice presidential candidate) Kamala Harris, former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, Senator Elizabeth Warren, the SEIU, California Labor Federation, and a number of other labor unions, could ultimately hurt the workers they’re ostensibly aiming to protect.
You can bet as soon as it’s legal (or even tacitly allowed), that Uber and Lyft will deploy driverless vehicles en masse in their fleets at the earliest possible date. Then guess what? Thousands of drivers, whether employees or contract workers, will be out of a job. Then, surely the progressives will sound the klaxons anew for universal basic income to support the unemployed masses that they unwittingly forced out of employment.
Whether that date is years or decades away, nobody really knows. The whole mania surrounding autonomous vehicles peaked around 2018, and then people realized millions of soulless, driverless transportation pods taking over the road wasn’t an imminent reality.
All of that to get to this point: Don’t just blithely accept the talking points of advocates and activists for a certain issue. Heavy-handed regulations may be well intentioned, but often have wide-ranging ripple effects that can have devastating consequences on individuals and society. Consider carefully and choose wisely.
(Main image courtesy Lyft)
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