Union Urges Lawmakers to Let Voters Decide on Human Operator Requirements

DENVER, March 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Colorado Teamsters rallied at the state capitol today calling on lawmakers to pass House Bill 26-1286. The legislation would allow Coloradans to vote on a referendum requiring human operators in commercial autonomous vehicles (AVs) weighing over 26,000 pounds. It will be the first-ever statewide ballot question regarding AV regulations in the nation.

"The Rocky Mountain region is already difficult to navigate, and putting fully autonomous, multi-ton trucks on the road would be disastrous to public safety," said Nate McCarty, a member of Teamsters Local 455 and driver for ABF Freight. "In addition to putting motorists in harm's way, these trucks threaten the livelihoods of thousands of drivers, their families, and communities."

Polling in multiple states and nationwide consistently shows voters are overwhelmingly opposed to sharing roads with fully driverless vehicles. Bipartisan legislation requiring human operators in commercial vehicles passed the Colorado General Assembly overwhelmingly last year, but Gov. Jared Polis sided with Big Tech companies over his own constituents and vetoed it.

"A decision this important can't be made behind closed doors, with Big Tech companies calling all the shots," said Dean Modecker, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 455. "Coloradans want technology that improves our lives instead of creating new risks, and that's why we deserve a say as to whether we want unsupervised AVs in our communities."

In addition to Colorado, Teamsters are advocating for common sense AV guardrails in California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Virginia, and Washington.

Teamsters Local 455 represents over 10,000 workers throughout Colorado. For more information, go to teamsterslocal455.org.

Contact:
Matt McQuaid, (771) 241-0015
mmcquaid@teamster.org

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SOURCE Teamsters Local 455