LYNN — The tech industry coalition Chamber of Progress has created and delivered a 40,000-signature petition from Massachusetts residents to state lawmakers, arguing that self-driving cars would make streets safer and more accessible.
Although the issue has not yet reached a legislative vote, the possibility of approving autonomous vehicles has raised concerns among Lynn residents.
“I don’t like it at all. One of the main concerns for me is the cybersecurity, along with job displacement,” Lynn native and resident Karlens Beauge stated. “With the job displacement, rather than spend all this money, maintaining autonomous vehicles, getting them into the state, having that facility, use that money instead to improve the current public transportation.’
On Feb. 4, the formerly known Google self-driving car project, Waymo, announced that they will be returning to Boston. Last year, the company visited the city with camera-covered cars, testing in many neighborhoods and surrounding areas.
“We learned a lot from last year’s visit, and we’re excited to continue effectively adapting to Boston’s cobblestones, narrow alleyways, roundabouts, and turnpikes,” the Waymo Team stated.
Beauge expressed concerns that Lynn’s infrastructure is not compatible or ready for self-driving cars to navigate safely through the city.
“If this were to be on a ballot of some type, I’m definitely voting no,” he added.
National scrutiny of autonomous vehicles has also increased. Just this week, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing regarding autonomous vehicles following an incident in which a child was hit by a driverless Waymo vehicle in Santa Monica, California.
During the hearing, Waymo Chief Safety Officer Mauricio Peña revealed that the company employs humans located remotely, either in the United States or abroad, to “provide guidance; they do not remotely drive the vehicles.”
“The Waymo vehicle is always in charge of the dynamic driving task,” Peña added.
“In what countries are these employees located?” Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts asked Peña.
“The Philippines,” Peña immediately answered.
“I would say that before anything is operating autonomously on our roads,” Aaron Clausen, principal planning director of the Planning Department of Lynn, stated. “I would want to see a lot more detail in the policies of the streetscape as well as the car side.”
