SF Leaders Unveil Federal Bill to Force AV Companies to Coordinate With First Responders

A congressman, a mayor and a fire chief walked up to a podium in Mission Bay — not to tell a joke, but to deliver a pointed message to the autonomous vehicle industry: the era of voluntary coordination with emergency responders is over, and San Francisco's hard-won experience is writing the rules.

• Congressman Mullen introduces AV Emergency Response Coordination Act, mandating a 24/7 company hotline, nationwide coordination protocols and geofencing capabilities for local officials during emergencies
• Mayor Lurie backs federal and state guardrails over city-by-city regulation, discloses he wrote to the state transportation secretary and plans to speak with him
• Fire Chief Crispin details frontline chaos: AVs blocking fire stations, a fleet-wide Waymo shutdown after fireworks on July 4th and vehicles freezing when pedestrians touch them
• National safety advocate warns against relying on luck that AV incidents haven't yet caused major casualties
• Bill covers Level 3 through Level 5 vehicles, including steering-wheel-free models like Zoox, with Mullen targeting inclusion in the federal highway reauthorization package

Congressman Kevin Mullen (D-South San Francisco) stood in Mission Bay on Tuesday to formally announce the AV Emergency Response Coordination Act — federal legislation born directly from the streets of San Francisco, where driverless cars have repeatedly tangled with firefighters, blocked intersections during blackouts and shut down entire fleets after rolling over stray fireworks.