--- title: "San Francisco Sues California for Letting Waymo Expand After Robotaxi Hell" description: "The city of San Francisco is suing California state regulators for allowing Waymo's self-driving car expansion in the city." date: "2024-01-25" modified: "2024-01-25" authors: - name: "Nico DeMattia" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/nico-demattia" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/san-francisco-sues-california-for-letting-waymo-expand-after-robotaxi-hell" categories: - "News" --- # San Francisco Sues California for Letting Waymo Expand After Robotaxi Hell ![]() *Waymo* The past 12 months or so haven't been great for self-driving car companies in San Francisco. If you've spent time in the city recently, you'd know that it's the autonomous vehicle capital of the country, with self-driving taxis roaming the streets and, occasionally, [getting themselves into trouble](). Well, the city is now suing California state regulators for allowing Google's AV company [Waymo]() to expand its self-driving fleet, citing public safety concerns. In August of last year, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) granted Waymo permission to increase its robotaxi operations in San Francisco, allowing them to run 24/7. However, according to [*The Washington Post*](), San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu is working to have the CPUC at least put a hold on that decision until the state can more closely review the safety regulations of self-driving vehicles. "As driverless AVs expanded in San Francisco, members of the public and city officials identified hundreds of safety incidents, including [interference with first responders,]()" said the lawsuit, filed on December 11, per *WP*. The lawsuit claims that the state board approved Waymo's request despite objections from the city. If Chiu and San Francisco win this and CPUC's decision is overturned, Waymo would lose its ability to operate in all areas, all hours of the day. While CPUC also initially allowed [GM's AV company Cruise]() to expand its efforts in San Francisco, Cruise isn't affected by this lawsuit because it already had its permits revoked following an incident in which one of its vehicles struck a pedestrian and dragged her almost 20 feet across the pavement. ![]() **Waymo** When asked for comment by *The Drive*, a Waymo representative relayed the company's official statement: "We are disappointed that the City has chosen to appeal the CPUC’s previous decision, however, we remain confident in our ability to continue safely serving San Francisco’s visitors and residents. We have continually demonstrated our deep willingness and longtime commitment to work in partnership with California state regulators, SF city officials and first responders and continue to stand by that approach." While Waymo hasn't had the same number of dangerous incidents as Cruise, its vehicles have still [been immobilized by fog]() and impeded police activity. (To Waymo's credit, it touted [improvements to its performance in adverse weather conditions]() four months after that fog incident.) Nevertheless, residents are so annoyed with self-driving cars in general that they've even taken to sabotaging them by [putting traffic cones on their hoods,]() temporarily disabling them. San Franciscans have no control over the self-driving robotaxis in their city, as Waymo is a private corporation whose business operations are permitted by the state of California. So if city-goers are displeased with Waymo, their only recourse is essentially to take it up with mom. And that seems to be exactly what Chiu and the city are doing. *Got tips? Send 'em to tips@thedrive.com* ## Author Nico is a writer and reviewer from New Jersey who probably thinks he’s a lot funnier than he actually is. His love of cars began when he was just a kid playing Gran Turismo 3, grinding out enough race wins with a Mazda Miata to save up for an in-game RUF 911. That passion for small, lightweight sports cars drove his desire to learn more about the industry, get his hands on as many cars as he could, and bring those experiences to life on the page. He cut his teeth writing about BMWs, Volkswagens, and Audis, mostly, and has owned far too many of each. He’s on his fourth 3 Series sedan, but all of his old, cheap German cars have forced him to learn more about car maintenance than his mechanical capability can handle. Too many late nights have been spent scrambling to get a car running by morning so he could get to work. For some reason, he never seems to learn that old Bimmers probably aren’t the best daily drivers. But he loves more than just old German cars. He’ll gladly drive and discuss anything with four (or even three) wheels. Cars aren’t his only passions, though. Nico is also a big nerd and loves movies, video games, comic books, and cares far too much about the New York Giants. So don’t be surprised if you see football references or dumb, obscure movie quotes in any of his car reviews. ### Author social links [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()