Under a new California law, cars without a human driver behind the wheel can be cited by police for traffic violations.
The law, which goes into effect in the summer of 2026, will allow law enforcement officers who observe traffic violations to issue citations against the offending autonomous vehicle (AV). AV companies, such as Waymo and Cruise, will be required to report all citations and tickets to the California Department of Motor Vehicles within 72 hours, KRON reports.
With enough data from citations, the DMV can better track vehicle safety and adjust permit operations, according to Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco). If a company racks up enough citations, it could lose its DMV permit to deploy vehicles on roadways.
AB 1777 was authored by Ting and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom into law on Friday. The new law also gives firefighters and police officers geofencing tools aimed at preventing AV cars from driving through yellow caution tape and into emergency scenes.
