California Passes a Robotaxi Law: Companies Must Respond When Vehicles Block Emergency Crews

October 2 (IT Home) — According to the foreign outlet TechCrunch this morning (the 2nd), California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed California Senate Bill 1246. The law requires that when a robotaxi breaks down or obstructs emergency response, local personnel must be sent to the scene to assist police officers, firefighters and other emergency responders. If a vehicle blocks police or firefighters from carrying out their duties for more than 30 minutes, the operating company may also be penalised.

The law adds a series of rules for autonomous vehicles, aimed mainly at breakdowns or interference with emergency response, in order to improve safety and the efficiency of handling incidents. Companies that fail to meet the obligations laid down in the law will also face accountability.

Before the law was introduced, California had seen a number of high-profile robotaxi accidents and breakdowns: vehicles breaking down and disrupting traffic, a vehicle driving into a crime scene, and vehicles getting in the way of police officers, firefighters and other emergency responders.

IT Home learned from the report that most of these incidents involved Waymo, the largest robotaxi operator in the United States. Waymo has about 4,000 autonomous vehicles in its commercial fleet across the country, of which roughly 1,200 operate in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In an investigation earlier this year, the outlet found that when Waymo vehicles ran into problems, police officers and firefighters had repeatedly had to drive the vehicles away from the scene themselves.

These incidents prompted California and federal legislators to demand tighter regulation of robotaxis, with one focus being how vehicles should respond when they encounter emergency responders. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration even wrote to developers of autonomous driving technology asking them to come up with a “solution.”

Under the new law, developers of autonomous driving technology may only use remote drivers who are physically in the United States and hold a US driving licence. The rule addresses how companies intervene remotely in a vehicle’s operation after it runs into problems.

In the event of a system-wide failure, the law also requires autonomous driving companies to notify city and town governments of the vehicle’s location and operating status, and to station incident-response technicians locally to help deal with vehicle accidents, blocked roads and similar situations. If a robotaxi obstructs emergency responders from carrying out their duties for more than 30 minutes in an emergency, the company may also be fined.

The law takes effect in July 2028. The California Department of Motor Vehicles, which regulates autonomous vehicles, will also draw up some of the implementing rules, including how quickly a company must respond after being notified of an accident or breakdown.