19 Red Light Violations by Robotaxis in Texas—Oregon Law Overrules Cities on Autonomous Vehicle Deployment

💥 127M Autonomous Miles, 19 School Bus Violations: Oregon’s HB 4085 Forces Robotaxis Into Cities Over Local Opposition

127M autonomous miles driven—90% fewer serious injuries than human drivers—yet Waymo’s robotaxis ran 19 red lights past school buses in Texas. 🚗💥 Oregon’s HB 4085 would force all cities to allow robotaxis, overriding Portland’s local control. Taxi drivers, cyclists, and parents in Portland now face a choice: state-mandated autonomy—or delayed safety? —Should cities lose the right to say no to driverless cars?

Waymo’s plan to launch driver-less taxis in Portland collides head-on with Oregon’s patchwork of city ordinances. House Bill 4085, introduced 5 Feb 2026, would erase those local barriers by creating a single $2 000 statewide AV permit, plus annual fees, and forcing municipalities to accept any operator that meets state rules. The bill’s sponsors—Sens. Bowman, Prozanski, and President Wagner—back the measure alongside Governor Kotek, while Portland Councilor Mitch Green calls it “pre-emptive” and demands city-level control. A 9 Feb hearing drew a packed room; a Senate vote is expected by late April.

How Much Revenue—and Risk—Does Portland Face?

PBOT Director Millicent Williams insists on permit compliance before curb access. If HB 4085 passes, Waymo will seed Portland with 15–20 sixth-generation robotaxis, each logging ~2 million sensor points per hour from 128-channel LiDAR, radar, and 12-MP cameras. Modeled on Seattle data, downtown curb demand could jump 30 %, yielding 300–400 daily rides at an average $12 fare—about $4.5 M gross in year one. State coffers would collect roughly $150 k annually from one 20-vehicle fleet, scaling linearly as fleets grow.

Does Waymo’s Safety Record Justify Statewide Pre-emption?

Nationally, Waymo has clocked 127 million fully autonomous miles with a 90 % reduction in serious injuries and an 88 % drop in property-damage claims versus human baselines. Yet a 2 Feb 2026 recall updated 1 212 units after 19 illegal school-bus passes in Texas and one child injury in Santa Monica. Portland’s wet winters pose a separate LiDAR challenge; Waymo counters with rain-filter algorithms and a 30-day safety-driver shadow period. Real-time curb-space coordination via PBOT’s smart-parking API is already coded, but any repeat violations would hand fresh ammunition to local opponents.

Can Waymo’s $126 B Valuation Absorb Regulatory Friction?

The $16 billion funding round announced 2 Feb 2026 covers permit fees, legal costs, and a projected $200 M fleet expansion across Oregon over 18 months. Investor sentiment slipped 5 % on the Santa Monica incident, yet the company still holds a 90 % safety-performance edge over rivals Uber-Lucid and Zoox. If HB 4085 becomes law, expect Eugene, Salem, Medford, and Bend to follow Portland within three years, pushing statewide weekly rides to 250 000 by 2028. Without the bill, municipal opt-outs could stall deployment 3–6 months per city, fragmenting maintenance routes and eroding the unit-economics scale that underpins the $126 B price tag.

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