The California robotaxi law that Governor Gavin Newsom signed on September 30 puts a price on blocking first responders. Senate Bill 1246 lets cities and counties seek up to $10,000 per vehicle, and it starts on July 1, 2028.
However, the fine print is narrower than the headline. The clock only starts after a responder asks for help, and the US-location rule covers only one type of remote worker.
What the California robotaxi law fines
The bill creates two civil penalties. A court can order up to $10,000 for each commercial autonomous vehicle that obstructs or interferes with an emergency for more than 30 minutes. That time counts from the moment an emergency response official requests a local incident technician.
In addition, a court can order up to $5,000 for each violation of the dispatch rule. A city attorney or county counsel must bring the case, and the law says a violation is not a crime. The court weighs how long the blockage lasted and whether it was repeated. It may also consider causes beyond the company’s reasonable control.
Technicians, neutral gear and remote drivers
Companies must dispatch a “local incident technician” immediately after a crash or a responder’s request. These technicians must also be able to relocate or tow the vehicle. In addition, the state DMV must set response-time guidelines by July 1, 2028.
Driverless commercial vehicles without manual controls need another safeguard. Remote staff must be able to put them in neutral, so officials can move them, or switch them off. During a fleetwide failure, companies must immediately tell local jurisdictions where their vehicles are and what condition they are in.
The location requirement is the subtle part. Remote drivers must work from inside the United States and hold a license valid in California. The bill defines a remote driver as someone who brakes, steers or shifts in real time. It defines remote assistants, who give advice or new goals, separately, and the location rule names only remote drivers.
Why lawmakers acted
Senator Dave Cortese’s office says a December power outage in San Francisco stalled about 1,500 Waymo vehicles. It also says first responders trying to reach the companies waited on hold for up to 53 minutes. The release adds that several Waymo vehicles blocked roads and ran out of power during this year’s July Fourth celebrations.
California has embraced autonomous vehicles, but we cannot embrace innovation at the expense of public safety.
Senator Dave Cortese
Some duties already exist. For example, companies must keep an emergency phone line that a human answers within 30 seconds. They must also act on a responder’s geofencing message within two minutes. The new bill keeps both rules.
Votes and timing
The Assembly passed SB 1246 by 65 to 11 on August 30, and the Senate agreed to the final version 29 to 7 the next day. Companies have until July 1, 2028 to prepare, so none of this applies yet. They must also report response times to the DMV every quarter, and the DMV will publish summary statistics for each company.
Robotaxi service keeps spreading in the meantime. Tech My Money covered Waymo’s arrival in Las Vegas and a Lucid robotaxi deal in Europe.
