California has become a major testing ground for the fast-growing robotaxi industry. Now, the state is setting tougher rules that aim to address incidents in which driverless cars interfere with first responders.<\/p>\n
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law this week that strengthens the state\u2019s oversight and emergency-response rules for autonomous vehicles, including new penalties for companies whose vehicles get in the way during emergencies.<\/p>\n
\u201cCalifornia has embraced autonomous vehicles, but we cannot embrace innovation at the expense of public safety. When an autonomous vehicle crashes, breaks down, blocks a roadway in an emergency, or gets in the way of law enforcement or first responders, there must be clear accountability,\u201d state Sen. Dave Cortese, who introduced the bill, said in a press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n Under the law, autonomous vehicle companies must dispatch on-site workers, known as \u201clocal incident technicians,\u201d when a vehicle crashes, gets stuck, blocks traffic or emergency access, or when first responders request help. Companies must also notify local officials about the status and location of vehicles affected by a system failure or outage. Remote drivers who can control an AV must also now be based in the United States.<\/p>\n Additionally, the law allows cities and counties to take\u00a0 to court, where they can face fines of up to $5,000 for violations and up to $10,000 per vehicle if an autonomous vehicle interferes with an emergency operation for more than 30 minutes after officials request a technician.<\/p>\n The new rules are effective July 1, 2028.<\/p>\n The law follows a number of cases involving autonomous vehicles getting stuck or blocking roads in the state. Cortese\u2019s press release cited an incident where multiple Waymo vehicles that blocked<\/a> streets during San Francisco\u2019s Fourth of July celebrations this year and another case where a power outage<\/a> last December stalled around 1,500 of the company\u2019s vehicles.<\/p>\n Federal regulators have also raised concerns about the problem. In July, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA) said it had identified a \u201cclear pattern\u201d of driverless vehicles interfering with law enforcement and other first responders and called on autonomous vehicle companies to address it.<\/p>\n \u201cLet me be clear: the inability to detect and appropriately respond to such situations represents a functional insufficiency,\u201d NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison sent wrote in a letter<\/a> to autonomous vehicle companies. \u201cEmergency scenes are not rare or extreme \u2018edge cases.\u2019 As such, NHTSA is today issuing a call to action for AV developers and operators to immediately focus their resources on fixing this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n