{"id":594836,"date":"2026-05-01T22:55:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T22:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=594836"},"modified":"2026-05-01T22:55:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T22:55:00","slug":"new-california-dmv-rules-allow-autonomous-vehicles-to-be-cited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=594836","title":{"rendered":"New California DMV Rules Allow Autonomous Vehicles To Be Cited"},"content":{"rendered":"

New California DMV Rules Allow Autonomous Vehicles To Be Cited<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Lear Zhou via The Epoch Times<\/a> (emphasis ours),<\/em><\/p>\n

SAN FRANCISCO\u2014Driverless vehicles such as Waymo robotaxis could be ticketed for moving violations, <\/strong>according to updated autonomous vehicle (AV) regulations approved by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) on April 28, to enhance safety, oversight, and enforcement requirements.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

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Waymo driverless vehicles charge at a Waymo charging station in Santa Monica, Calif., on May 30, 2025. Daniel Cole\/Reuters<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

The new rules allow law enforcement agencies to cite the companies that own the AVs for traffic violations committed by their vehicles.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Part of the regulations, which were implemented based on the California Legislature\u2019s Assembly Bill 1777, also require companies to respond to calls from police, firefighters, and other emergency officials within 30 seconds.<\/p>\n

The rules also authorize emergency response officials to issue electronic geofencing requests to an AV manufacturer to direct its AV fleet to leave or avoid the area within two minutes. \u201cAVs that violate this restriction may be subject to permit restrictions or suspension,\u201d according to DMV\u2019s news release.<\/p>\n

\u201cAutonomous vehicle innovators operating in California have a clear, workable path to test and deploy, ensuring the state will continue to benefit from autonomous technology through safer roads, enhanced accessibility, and strengthened supply chains<\/strong>.\u201d said Jeff Farrah, CEO of the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association (AVIA), referring to the new regulation in an April 29 statement.<\/p>\n

AVIA is a non-governmental organization advocating for the safe and timely deployment of autonomous driving technologies.<\/p>\n

The new rules send a clear message that \u201cautonomy does not remove responsibility,\u201d Ahmed Banafa, an engineering professor of San Jose State University, told The Epoch Times via email.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese vehicles must integrate smoothly into real-world environments that include law enforcement, pedestrians, and unpredictable situations.\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Previously law enforcement officers often didn\u2019t know how to deal with driverless cars. The new rules are meant to lead to more standardized procedures, clearer communication channels, and better coordination between AV fleets and the law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile it may introduce additional compliance costs and slow down some rollouts, it creates a clearer framework for companies to operate within<\/strong>,\u201d Banafa said.<\/p>\n

DMV\u2019s new rules based on AB 1777 would require AV manufacturers to maintain a dedicated emergency response telephone line, and equip each AV with a two-way voice communication device for emergency response officers to communicate with a remote human operator.<\/p>\n

The deadline for the AV companies to comply was set as July 1, 2026.<\/p>\n

The rule updates come after issues were revealed involving autonomous vehicles in San Francisco, including Waymo cars blocking intersections during a massive blackout that disabled traffic signals in December<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The San Francisco Fire Department also complained<\/a> after dozens of incidents involving driverless vehicles interfering with emergency response teams in 2023.<\/strong><\/p>\n

To comply with the new regulations, the AV manufacturers must increase human involvement, but in a different form, Banafa ssaid. \u201cHumans are now part of a centralized support system rather than physically inside the car.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Feb. 4, 2026, in a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, Waymo\u2019s chief safety officer Mauricio Pe\u00f1a testified that when the company\u2019s robotaxis encounter unusual situations, a remote human operator may step in.<\/p>\n

Pe\u00f1a said some of the operators are located in the United States, while other workers are abroad, including in the Philippines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nFri, 05\/01\/2026 – 18:55<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New California DMV Rules Allow Autonomous Vehicles To Be Cited Authored by Lear Zhou via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), SAN FRANCISCO\u2014Driverless vehicles such as Waymo robotaxis could be ticketed for moving violations, according to updated autonomous vehicle (AV) regulations approved by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) on April 28, to enhance safety,… Continue reading New California DMV Rules Allow Autonomous Vehicles To Be Cited<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":594837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,22,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-594836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-border-security","category-immigration","category-immigration-reform","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=594836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/594837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=594836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=594836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=594836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}