Gig drivers protest after robotaxis stall on San Francisco streets during blackout

Описание: (9 Jan 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
San Francisco - 9 January 2026
1. Various Waymo driverless vehicle pass location of gig driver protest
2. Gig workers chant UPSOUND (English) "Protect our streets!"
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Jennifer Esteen, Union Organizer:
"We're here in San Francisco, where last week there was a blackout. And during the blackout, Waymo's specifically, driverless cars, were unable to function. They blocked intersections. Emergency vehicles couldn't get through. It created more congestion than was already happening. When I'm stuck at a traffic signal that the light doesn't work, I know, stop, go, stop, go. The driverless car can't do that. The program failed. And the worry is that those kinds of failures will continue to happen on our streets. We will see more innocent lives lost, like the Kat, Kit Kat from around the corner, a pregnant woman was dragged last year. These cars malfunction, and they also steal jobs. And the way the PUC and the DMV right now are regulating these entities is very different from the way cars with drivers are regulated. If I run a red light, I get fined. Those cars failed, thousands of them failed. No fines, no changes to their insurance rates. That's unreal. And the CEO of the company, of the corporation, was texting with the mayor during the blackout. Billionaires have different kinds of access behind the scenes to our lawmakers, to the executive of the city, that's also unfair. So we are here today asking for our regulatory body of the state of California to get right. Make these autonomous vehicles have some kind of transparency and accountability for safety in the same ways that we as individual drivers do."
4. Gig workers hold "Waymo Stalls, Safety Falls" signs during rally
5. Gig driver speaks during rally
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Joseph Augusto, Lyft & Uber Driver:
"On December the 20th, I was in the storm of it here in the city. When the lights went out in most of the city, I ended up being behind a Waymo. It's very dangerous conditions where it's really dark and it's raining. And you look at the Waymos and they're in the middle of intersections. They're in the middle of crosswalks and people are darting around them. You have emergency vehicles, and I witnessed all this. There were a lot of Waymos around, just randomly all over the city and there's no plan."
7. Various gig drivers at rally
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Joseph Augusto, Lyft & Uber Driver:
"I personally am not against technology. What I am against is unfair treatment. We have these people, these companies, these autonomous vehicle companies who are driving around the city and they don't seem to be held to the same standards as us drivers."
9. Various Waymo vehicles drive through nearby intersection
STORYLINE:
Labor and transportation advocates gathered outside the California Public Utilities Commission in San Francisco on Friday, calling for immediate action on autonomous vehicles. 

Uber and Lyft drivers, now united under the California Gig Workers Union, held a rally and press conference.

They're urging regulators to remove robotaxis from public streets until safety concerns are resolved, increase transparency around AV permits and safety data, and ensure local oversight and accountability for autonomous vehicle operations.

Protesters carried signs and banners, voicing concerns about the rapid growth of self-driving technology and its impact on both safety and jobs.

Waymo faced significant challenges during a widespread San Francisco blackout last month. 
when a PG&E substation fire cut power to roughly one-third of the city.






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