Waymo robotaxi rules have found a powerful new advocate in San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie, who has formally asked California’s state transport secretary to tighten autonomous vehicle regulations following a July 4 traffic disaster that left thousands stranded for hours. The letter, addressed to California Secretary of Transportation Toks Omishakin, is not the demand of a tech sceptic. Lurie has previously championed San Francisco as a testbed for emerging technology. This is the demand of someone who watched his city seize up.
The immediate trigger was the Golden Gate Bridge fireworks show on July 4, which drew an estimated 100,000 spectators. Waymo’s robotaxis, overwhelmed by the sudden surge in traffic, became immobile, ran out of power, and blocked key streets, compounding gridlock and trapping municipal shuttles. It was not a good look.
It was arguably worse on the ground. The Next Web reported that at least one robotaxi drove over a lit firework in a Mission district intersection and caught fire, with a passenger audibly asking, ‘Are we on fire, dude?’ San Francisco’s emergency management chief was described as exasperated as the situation unfolded, according to NBC Bay Area, which reviewed newly released records from that night.
Waymo’s response was, predictably, measured. A spokesperson said the company’s priority ‘is keeping San Francisco moving safely, especially during major city celebrations,’ and that the team ‘worked quickly to clear our vehicles from the area’ in coordination with local authorities and emergency services, according to the SF Standard. Lurie’s letter, filed nearly two weeks after the incident, suggests city hall found that explanation insufficient.
The Case for Waymo Robotaxi Rules
In his letter, Lurie pointed to two events that exposed the gaps: the July 4 fireworks gridlock and a widespread power outage the previous December, both of which left dozens of Waymo vehicles stranded and paralysed traffic. ‘California’s current regulatory framework does not adequately address how autonomous vehicles operate during major incidents, planned or not,’ he wrote. ‘California’s challenge now is not just whether autonomous vehicles can operate safely under normal conditions, but also whether they can perform reliably during extraordinary ones.’
The mayor was not alone in raising these concerns. City supervisor Bilal Mahmood had already called on Waymo to explain what caused the December stranding before Lurie’s letter landed, according to KQED. And the president of San Francisco’s firefighters union has gone further still, warning that when a lead vehicle in a Waymo convoy becomes confused, the vehicles behind it turn into immobile obstacles blocking emergency access, according to Factum Media.
The federal government has also taken notice. On July 8, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent a letter to major autonomous vehicle companies stating it had observed ‘a clear pattern of driverless AVs interfering with law enforcement and other first responders,’ and called for all operators to ‘immediately focus their resources on fixing this issue,’ according to Yahoo News. That broadens the pressure well beyond one mayor and one city.
Four Requirements and a Regulatory Reckoning
Lurie’s letter sets out four ‘core operational capabilities’ he wants California to enshrine as statewide standards. Companies would need to immediately remove or relocate robotaxis from active travel lanes during incidents, adapt routes and pickup zones in real time, share live operational data with local agencies (including the locations of immobile vehicles), and demonstrate through testing that they can handle large crowds and surging traffic volumes.
The case for why Waymo specifically is the focal point is straightforward: scale. The company operates an estimated 1,000 robotaxis in the Bay Area alone and completes more than 500,000 paid rides every week across 11 cities. Six companies hold driverless testing permits in the San Francisco region, including Amazon-owned Zoox and, imminently, Uber. The California DMV had authorised Waymo’s geographic expansion into additional portions of Northern and Southern California as of November 2025. The California Public Utilities Commission records show Waymo simultaneously holds a drivered deployment permit, a driverless pilot permit, and a drivered pilot permit, making its regulatory footprint as sprawling as its fleet.
California’s framework is already stricter than Texas or Arizona, requiring separate permit processes from both the state DMV and the Public Utilities Commission. But Lurie is arguing the rules were written for normal days, and normal days are not the problem. He said the four proposed requirements ‘will not undermine autonomous vehicles; they will strengthen them.’ Whether Sacramento agrees is the next question.
