California announces AV regulation, fines for robotaxis that impede emergency responders
Hundreds of thousands of autonomous vehicle rides are completed every week across the U.S. Most of them go off without a hitch. But all it takes is one wayward car to ruin someone’s day — and potentially threaten lives.
A new California bill, signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom last week, will ensure those blips hit car makers harder. Under SB 1246, AV operators such as Waymo and Tesla will face hefty fines if their vehicles block first responders for more than 30 minutes.
The bill also sets statewide standards for AV operators and emergency response departments, including new requirements for two-way communication, company-hired “local incident technicians” that can respond to stalled or unresponsive vehicles, and updated fleet protocols.
“California has embraced autonomous vehicles, but we cannot embrace innovation at the expense of public safety,” wrote bill author and California Senator Dave Cortese in a press release.
Autonomous ride share operations are booming across the nation. More than 500,000 Waymo rides are completed every week, the company recently reported. Its fleet comprises more than 4,000 cars operating in 15 cities, with the vast majority in California.
Tesla recently launched and then scaled its Cybercab operation in Texas, an addition to its existing fleet of Model Y vehicles and “Robovans” deployed in seven metro areas. The company hasn’t disclosed recent numbers on the operation’s total size.
But with growth comes growing pains.
Self-driving taxis have been at the center of several viral snafus, including passengers abandoned mid-ride, city-wide traffic jams, and even a dangerously live firework show.
They’ve also had to weather scrutiny from federal regulators. In July, California representative Kevin Mullin introduced the House AV Emergency Response Coordination Act, which would establish national safety standards for autonomous vehicles and emergency response coordination. Mullin’s announcement cited incidents of robotaxis allegedly obstructing emergency vehicles, breaching crime scenes, and failing to recognize emergency conditions in Austin, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Dallas, and San Francisco.
The bill followed a TechCrunch investigation that found emergency responders were regularly asked to operate Waymo vehicles during their day-to-day operations and amid crisis scenarios, including removing obstructing vehicles from escape paths during a wildfire. A few months later, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a plea to vehicle makers to address a dangerous “pattern” of driverless cars interfering with first responders.
