California lawmakers are continuing to advance Senate Bill 1246, an autonomous vehicle oversight measure that has been revised as the state begins implementing new rules allowing heavy-duty autonomous vehicle testing and deployment.
SB 1246, authored by Sen. Dave Cortese, passed the Senate 27-9 and was approved by the Assembly Communications and Conveyance Committee on July 1. The bill has been referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for fiscal review.
The updated bill continues to focus on commercial autonomous vehicles, including driverless vehicles used for passenger transportation and the delivery of goods or freight. According to the Assembly committee analysis, the measure would impose new requirements on commercial autonomous vehicles and autonomous vehicle manufacturers related to remote assistants, remote drivers, local incident technicians and emergency response.
The current version defines a commercial autonomous vehicle as an autonomous vehicle operated without a human driver for compensation or as part of a commercial enterprise, including passenger transportation or the delivery of goods or freight. It also defines remote assistance, remote drivers and local incident technicians, creating a clearer structure for how driverless commercial vehicles would be supported when they encounter situations that require human intervention.
Under the bill, autonomous vehicle manufacturers would be required to ensure, through staffing and assignments, that remote drivers or remote assistants can immediately respond to calls and incidents. Manufacturers also would have to dispatch local incident technicians when needed and immediately notify local jurisdictions and emergency dispatch officials during a fleetwide emergency or system failure.
SB 1246 would also require the Department of Motor Vehicles to adopt guidelines establishing reasonable response times for local incident technicians to be present at emergency scenes. The bill would require autonomous vehicles to be equipped with manual override systems or require manufacturers to ensure remote assistants or remote drivers can place a vehicle in neutral during an emergency.
The bill would direct the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to implement voluntary training for law enforcement officers on commercial autonomous vehicles. POST would also be required to develop uniform guidelines and requirements for manual override training and written guidance provided by autonomous vehicle manufacturers.
The measure would make violations civil rather than criminal. City attorneys or county counsel would be authorized to bring civil actions for violations, with penalties of up to $5,000 or $10,000 per violation, depending on the circumstances06
The bill is advancing as California’s updated autonomous vehicle regulations take effect. The DMV announced in April that the new regulations cover both light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles, strengthen safety, oversight and enforcement requirements, and open the California market for testing and deployment of larger autonomous vehicles in freight and transit.
Those rules are significant for autonomous trucking because they remove the previous prohibition on AVs with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more, creating a pathway for heavy-duty autonomous vehicle testing and deployment in California. A Covington & Burling analysis described the regulations as a milestone for AV trucking companies because they open access to one of the country’s largest markets while adding new permitting, safety-case, reporting and enforcement obligations.
According to the DMV, the regulations also strengthen enforcement by allowing law enforcement agencies to issue notices of autonomous vehicle noncompliance when an AV commits a moving violation. The rules also require first responder interaction plans, two-way communication with emergency responders and new procedures for emergency geofencing.
Together, the new DMV regulations and the continued movement of SB 1246 show California moving on two tracks. The regulatory update creates a pathway for heavy-duty autonomous vehicle testing and deployment, while SB 1246 would add more specific statutory requirements around incident response, emergency coordination, remote operations and local enforcement for commercial autonomous vehicles.
The Assembly committee analysis notes that SB 1246 appears to apply more narrowly to commercial autonomous vehicles used to carry passengers, goods or freight, rather than all autonomous vehicles. The analysis also says the bill would go further than current DMV and California Public Utilities Commission autonomous vehicle programs by specifying in more detail how manufacturers and commercial autonomous vehicles would be managed during emergencies.
Supporters listed in the committee analysis include the California Association of Highway Patrolmen, California Professional Firefighters, the California Federation of Labor Unions, the California Safety and Legislative Board of SMART Transportation Division and SEIU California. Opponents include the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association, Aurora Innovation, California Chamber of Commerce, Gatik, Kodiak Robotics, Nuro, PlusAI, Tesla, Torc, Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association, Volvo Group North America, Waabi and Zoox, among others.
If SB 1246 continues to advance, it could further shape the operating requirements for autonomous freight and passenger services in California at the same time the state begins allowing heavy-duty autonomous vehicle testing and deployment under its updated DMV framework.
