Human drivers fight robotaxis in Washington, D.C.; a case of modern day Luddites?

When I taught I used a book called The Economics Of Macro Issues by Daniel Benjamin and Roger LeRoy Miller. It mentioned Luddites, people who destroyed industrial equipment in England in the early 1800s. They were weavers who lost their jobs to new machinery.

See D.C. Wants To Protect Ride-Share Jobs. Riders Could Pay the Price by Josh Pauzé of Reason Magazine. Excerpt:

"The District of Columbia is considering a bill to legalize commercial autonomous vehicles (A.V.s) in the city that would subject companies to hefty fees to fund programs for displaced ride-share drivers. Labor unions, religious leaders, and drivers gathered outside of the D.C. Council building on Tuesday to protest the bill and Waymo. Reason was on the ground to see it live.

Community members voiced a wide range of concerns about the prospect of self-driving cars coming to Washington, D.C. Worries included everything from road safety and job loss to surveillance and air quality issues from Waymo's tires."

"Autumn Weintraub, who leads 32BJ's App Drivers Union, was a key spokesperson for the protest. In her statement, she said the council is "rushing to open the floodgates for a bill that could cause people here in the D.C. area to lose jobs"

Related posts:

The AI Backlash Has Tech Executives Fearing for Their Lives (a case of modern day Luddites?): Violent threats against AI companies are rising and spilling over into real-world security incidents (2026) 

Driverless Trucks Are Here—and They’re Delivering Bags of Doritos (plus backlash aganist robotaxis): PepsiCo has 41 trucks on the road in Arizona, Texas and Arkansas, bringing the technology into the mainstream (2026) 

Romance novelist gets death threats on social media because she uses AI to help her write stories (2026)

The American Rebellion Against AI Is Gaining Steam Booed commencement speakers, blocked data centers, plummeting poll numbers: Fast-growing industry has a faster-growing crisis (2026) 

Two recent articles on robots and human workers (2024) (this mentions Luddites)