Overview
- State regulators approved new autonomous vehicle rules that, starting July 1, let police issue formal noncompliance notices to the companies when a driverless car breaks traffic laws.
- Once a notice is issued, the company must report details to the DMV within 72 hours, or within 24 hours for serious incidents, and repeated or grave violations can trigger permit suspension or revocation.
- The rules give the DMV power to set operating limits for safety, including caps on fleet size, locations, speeds, and weather conditions.
- Local emergency officials can order emergency geofencing that forces AVs to exit a defined area within two minutes, and companies must answer first‑responder calls within 30 seconds.
- The package also opens a permit pathway to test autonomous heavy trucks over 10,000 pounds on California roads, closing a long‑standing enforcement gap highlighted by incidents where police could not cite driverless cars.