SB1246: Autonomous vehicles.

Amended IN Assembly June 24, 2026 Amended IN Assembly June 15, 2026 Amended IN Senate May 18, 2026 Amended IN Senate March 24, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Senate Bill No. 1246 Introduced by Senator Cortese February 19, 2026 An act to add Section 13519.16 to the Penal Code, and to add the heading of Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 38750) to, and to add Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 38800) to, Division 16.6 of the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1246, as amended, Cortese. Autonomous vehicles. (1) Existing law authorizes the operation of an autonomous vehicle on public roads for testing purposes by a driver who possesses the proper class of license for the type of vehicle operated if specified requirements are satisfied. Existing law prohibits the operation of an autonomous vehicle on public roads until the manufacturer submits an application to the Department of Motor Vehicles, as specified, and that application is approved. Existing law requires the department to adopt regulations setting forth requirements for the submission and approval of an application, including, among other things, any testing, equipment, and performance standards the department concludes are necessary to ensure the safe operation of autonomous vehicles on public roads, as specified. Existing law, commencing July 1, 2026, requires manufacturers of autonomous vehicles that operate without a human operator physically present in the vehicle, except as provided, to comply with certain requirements, including, among other things, to maintain a dedicated emergency response telephone line that is available for emergency response officials, as defined, and to equip each autonomous vehicle with a 2-way voice communication device that enables emergency response officials that are near the vehicle to communicate effectively with a remote human operator, as specified. This bill would require remote assistants, remote drivers, drivers or local incident technicians, as defined, to be located within the United States and hold a valid California driver’s license of a state or territory of the United States of the appropriate class with any endorsements required for a human driver to lawfully operate the same vehicle in this state. For autonomous passenger service vehicles, the bill would require the ratio of remote assistants or remote drivers to autonomous passenger service vehicles be 1 to 5 or higher at all times. The bill would require an autonomous vehicle manufacturer to ensure, through its staffing and assignments, that remote drivers or remote assistants are able to immediately respond to all calls and incidents. The bill would require an autonomous vehicle manufacturer to ensure, through its staffing and assignments, that local incident technicians are immediately dispatched upon notification, electronically or otherwise, of an accident involving damage to persons or property, or upon receiving a request from an emergency response official or 911 dispatch center. The bill would, in the event of a fleetwide emergency or system failure, require an autonomous vehicle manufacturer to immediately notify affected local jurisdictions, including emergency dispatch, of the location and status of their fleet and deploy local incident technicians, where appropriate, whenever affected vehicles cannot be remotely recovered and create a traffic hazard or impede emergency response. The bill would also require the Department of Motor Vehicles, by no later than January 1, 2028, Vehicles to adopt regulations guidelines establishing maximum reasonable response times for local incident technicians to be present at the scene upon notification or request. the request of an emergency response official or 911 dispatch center. The bill would require an autonomous vehicle manufacturer to adopt and maintain written emergency response and immobilization procedures to ensure prompt responses to emergencies and accidents, as specified. The bill would require any commercial autonomous vehicle obstructing a travel lane, crosswalk, intersection, transit lane, bicycle lane, freight corridor, emergency access route, space or ramp designated for disabled persons when not carrying a disabled passenger, or fire hydrant to be relocated or removed as soon as possible, but in no case later than 5 minutes after the obstruction is detected if the autonomous vehicle is driveable, or no later than 30 minutes after the obstruction is detected if field personnel or towing is required, except as specified. The bill would prohibit a commercial autonomous vehicle from interfering with emergency events, emergency operations, or law enforcement operations. The bill would require any commercial autonomous vehicle operated without a human driver on a highway in this state that is equipped with controls that allow someone physically present to drive the vehicle to be equipped with a manual override system in the vehicle that allows local incident technicians, emergency response officials, tow operators, and trained personnel to readily and safely disable the vehicle, place the vehicle in neutral gear to relocate it during an emergency, and turn off the vehicle. The bill would require an autonomous vehicle manufacturer to provide manual override training and written guidance to local incident responders, emergency response officials, and towing providers regarding the manual override system, including safe disabling, relocation, and communication procedures, as specified. For commercial autonomous vehicles that are not equipped with manual controls for completing the dynamic driving task, the bill would require autonomous vehicle manufacturers to ensure that remote assistants or remote drivers have the ability to place the autonomous vehicle in neutral to allow an emergency response official to move the vehicle, or to cause the autonomous vehicle to move as directed by an emergency response official, or to turn off the vehicle and have it remain stationary until otherwise directed by an emergency response official. The bill would require the Department of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to approve the manual override systems described above. The bill would also require the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to develop uniform guidelines and requirements for, and to provide approval of, the training and written guidance required to be provided by autonomous vehicle manufacturers pursuant to the above-described provisions. manufacturers. The bill would authorize the CHP and POST to impose fees sufficient to cover the reasonable regulatory costs associated with administering these provisions. The bill would require autonomous vehicle manufacturers to maintain specified data, including, among other things, information regarding assignments and staffing for remote assistants, remote drivers, and local incident technicians and response times and responses to emergency events, immobilizations, obstructions, accidents involving damage to persons or property, and requests from emergency response officials. data on response times and responses to emergency events, immobilizations, obstructions, accidents involving damage to persons or property, and requests from emergency response officials. The bill would require autonomous vehicle manufacturers to provide this data to the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Public Utilities Commission upon request. The bill would require autonomous vehicle manufacturers to provide summary statistics showing the number of incidents in which manual control of commercial autonomous vehicles was necessary or control was exercised by remote assistants, remote drivers, or local incident technicians on a monthly basis to the department and commission, as specified. The bill would require the department and commission to post the summary statistics on their respective internet websites. The bill would specify that a violation of the above provisions are is not crimes and would instead make violations of these provisions subject to specified civil penalties. a crime. The bill would authorize a city attorney or county counsel to bring a civil action on behalf of a city, county, or city and county to enforce specified violations of the above provisions and for violations of an autonomous vehicle manufacturers’ permit or any regulation authorizing the autonomous vehicle manufacturers’ operation. The bill would authorize a court to impose specified civil penalties payable to the jurisdiction bringing the action, as specified. (2) Existing law establishes the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training in the Department of Justice and requires the commission to develop guidelines and implement courses of instruction regarding specified topics, including, among others, racial profiling, handling domestic violence, and human trafficking. The bill would require the commission to implement a course or courses of instruction for voluntary training of law enforcement officers, as defined, on commercial autonomous vehicles as it relates to public safety, and to develop related uniform minimum guidelines for voluntary use by California law enforcement agencies, as specified. The bill would require the course or courses, learning and performance objectives, training standards, and guidelines to be developed in consultation with appropriate groups and individuals that have an interest and expertise in the field of the operation of autonomous vehicles, as specified. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. The Legislature hereby finds and declares the following: (a) The current experience with autonomous vehicles deployed in California raises legitimate questions about corporate permit noncompliance, vehicle immobilizations, operations that hinder first responder activity, collisions involving children and animals, the displacement of workers employed in the transportation industry, and the adequacy of safety data disclosure by companies with a direct financial interest in the expansion of autonomous vehicle operations. (b) The coming years are likely to see a significant expansion of autonomous vehicle activity on the state’s highways and roads, and both the existing regulatory structure and the statewide concerns raised by the expansion of autonomous vehicle operations require immediate and sustained legislative attention to this issue. While the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Public Utilities Commission have specific regulatory mandates, neither agency is charged with comprehensively balancing the full range of public interests affected by the expansion of autonomous vehicle operations. (c) The operation of autonomous vehicles depends not only on automated driving systems but also on humans who must supervise, authorize, respond, and intervene in autonomous vehicle operations when necessary, and currently those individuals may be located outside the State of California or outside the United States. (d) The licensing and regulation of drivers, the safe operation of vehicles on public highways, and the control of traffic are matters of traditional state police power. (e) Autonomous vehicles’ ability to respond to new and dynamic traffic situations, first responder and law enforcement directions, emergency operations, and events occurring both inside and outside of the vehicle directly affects the mobility of other vehicles and pedestrians, the flow of traffic, and the safety of the public. (f) Immobilized autonomous vehicles blocking travel lanes or intersections present a direct threat to traffic safety, emergency response, and public mobility, including by delaying emergency medical services and fire and law enforcement response. (g) Public safety requires that those responsible for monitoring and directing autonomous vehicles, including remote assistants, remote drivers, and local incident technicians, understand California traffic laws and must be immediately available to coordinate in real time with law enforcement, emergency responders, and traffic authorities. Public safety also requires that individuals remotely controlling or providing remote input to operating autonomous vehicles must be physically located within the United States to mitigate the risk of longer latency times for communications with autonomous vehicles. (h) Proper staffing levels and supervision ratios are necessary to ensure that remote assistants, remote drivers, and local incident responders can immediately respond to incidents and prevent unsafe conditions from developing or escalating. (i) (h) Direct communication between emergency response officials and autonomous vehicle manufacturers is necessary to ensure public safety, and autonomous vehicle manufacturers must maintain communication systems and protocols that allow emergency response officials to reach a qualified human in real time and receive an immediate, meaningful response. (j) (i) It is the intent of the Legislature in adopting this act to ensure that any expansion of the operation of autonomous vehicles for commercial purposes occurs under the supervision of this state and in a manner that prioritizes public safety, accountability, the protection of workers in the transportation industry, and emergency response readiness. SEC. 2. Section 13519.16 is added to the Penal Code, to read: 13519.16. (a) (1) The commission shall implement a course or courses of instruction for voluntary training of law enforcement officers on commercial autonomous vehicles as it relates to public safety, and shall also develop related uniform minimum guidelines for voluntary use by California law enforcement agencies. (b) The course or courses for law enforcement officers and the guidelines shall include all of the following: (1) Legal standards for commercial autonomous vehicles during an emergency. (2) Standardized protocols for taking control over manual override systems in an emergency. (3) Standardized protocols for commercial autonomous vehicles during an emergency. (4) Supervisory responsibilities for commercial autonomous vehicles during an emergency. (5) State required reporting for commercial autonomous vehicles and manual override systems during an emergency. (c) Law enforcement agencies are encouraged to include periodic updates and training on commercial autonomous vehicles in any advanced officer training program. If appropriate, the training presenters should include companies that operate commercial autonomous vehicles. The commission shall assist in this training when possible. (d) The course or courses of instruction, learning and performance objectives, training standards, and guidelines shall be developed in consultation with appropriate groups and individuals that have an interest and expertise in the field of the operation of autonomous vehicles. The groups and individuals shall include, but are not limited to, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, local law enforcement agencies, the Office of the State Fire Marshal, local dispatch agencies, traffic officials from public agencies, and autonomous vehicle experts. (e) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply: (1) “Emergency” has the same meaning as that term is defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 38751 of the Vehicle Code. (2) “Law enforcement officer” means any officer of a local police department or sheriff’s office, any peace officer of the Department of the California Highway Patrol, as defined by subdivision (a) of Section 830.2, and any officer of any other law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over commercial autonomous vehicles. SEC. 3. The heading of Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 38750) is added to Division 16.6 of the Vehicle Code, to read: CHAPTER 1. General Provisions SEC. 4. Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 38800) is added to Division 16.6 of the Vehicle Code, to read: CHAPTER 2. Operation of Autonomous Vehicles 38800. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply: (a) “Autonomous passenger service vehicle” means an autonomous vehicle operating without a human driver for compensation or as part of a commercial enterprise for purposes of passenger transportation. (b) “Commercial autonomous vehicle” means 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. (c) “Emergency” has the same meaning as that term is defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 38751. (d) ”Emergency response official” includes, but is not limited to, emergency dispatchers, first responders, peace officers as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, and traffic control, traffic enforcement, and parking enforcement personnel from a public agency in an applicable jurisdiction. (e) “First responder” includes law enforcement, fire department, and emergency medical personnel. (f) “Fleetwide emergency or system failure” means any event that simultaneously affects, or has the potential to affect, multiple autonomous vehicles operating under the same software, communications, navigation, or operational system, regardless of geographic location. (f) (g) “Local incident technician” means a natural person who responds onsite on behalf of an autonomous vehicle manufacturer to incidents involving an autonomous vehicle, including accidents that involve damage to persons or property, and requests for assistance from emergency response officials. Local incident technicians shall be employees of the autonomous vehicle manufacturer or an entity contracted with the autonomous vehicle manufacturer to provide local incident technician services that employs 50 or more local incident technicians. Local incident services may include towing services. (g) (h) “Remote assistant” means a natural person who meets all of the following conditions: (1) Is not physically located in the driver’s seat of the vehicle. (2) Is able to provide information or advice to an autonomous vehicle to facilitate trip continuation when the autonomous vehicle encounters a situation it cannot manage or is able to alert the automated driving system of the need to fall back to a minimal risk condition, but does not include remote driving. (3) Is able to provide an autonomous vehicle with revised goals or tasks. (h) (i) “Remote driver” means a natural person who is not physically located in the driver’s seat of the vehicle and performs real-time performance of part or all of the dynamic driving task fallback, including real-time braking, steering, acceleration, and transmission shifting. 38801. (a) A remote assistant, remote driver, driver or local incident technician shall be located within the United States and hold a valid California driver’s license of a state or territory of the United States of the appropriate class with any endorsements required for a human driver to lawfully operate the same vehicle in this state. (b) For autonomous passenger service vehicles, the ratio of remote assistants or remote drivers who are actively monitoring or directing operation on a public road in this state to autonomous passenger service vehicles shall be one to five or higher at all times. (c) Remote drivers and local incident technicians shall be registered with the Employer Pull Notice Program administered by the department. 38802. (a) (1) An autonomous vehicle manufacturer shall ensure, through its staffing and assignments, that remote drivers or remote assistants are able to immediately respond to all calls and incidents. (2) An autonomous vehicle manufacturer shall ensure, through its staffing and assignments, that local incident technicians are immediately dispatched in either of the following circumstances: (A) Upon notification, electronically or otherwise, of an accident involving damage to persons or property. (B) Upon receiving a request from an emergency response official or 911 dispatch center. (3) The department shall, by no later than January 1, 2028, adopt regulations establishing maximum response times for local incident technicians to be present at the scene upon notification or request. (3) In the event of a fleetwide emergency or system failure, an autonomous vehicle manufacturer shall immediately notify affected local jurisdictions, including emergency dispatch, of the location and status of their fleet and deploy local incident technicians, where appropriate, whenever affected vehicles cannot be remotely recovered and create a traffic hazard or impede emergency response. (b) (1) If an emergency response official determines that a remote driver or remote assistant is unable to reasonably address a request from an emergency response official, the emergency response official may request that an autonomous vehicle manufacturer dispatch a local incident technician to a commercial autonomous vehicle when necessary to address collisions, immobilizations, or obstructions, or to address any safety issue that requires the onsite presence of a local incident technician. Emergency response officials may communicate a request for a local incident technician utilizing an emergency response telephone line or two-way voice communication device as described in Section 38751. An autonomous vehicle manufacturer shall immediately dispatch a local incident technician pursuant to that request. (2) The local incident technician shall have the authority to coordinate on behalf of the autonomous vehicle with emergency response officials. The local incident technician shall have the authority and ability to manually relocate the vehicle. 38803. (a) An autonomous vehicle manufacturer shall adopt and maintain written emergency response and immobilization procedures to ensure prompt responses to emergencies and accidents involving commercial autonomous vehicles and the prompt clearance of any commercial autonomous vehicle that becomes disabled or obstructs traffic or is in a restricted area. (b) Procedures shall provide for all of the following: (1) Real-time notification of emergency events, including law enforcement activity, traffic enforcement activity, or fire department activity, and emergency medical services activity, immobilizations, or obstructions. (2) Immediate escalation to a remote assistant or remote driver with supervision and control over the commercial autonomous vehicle, or immediate dispatch of a local incident technician if there is an accident that involves damage to persons or property or a request for assistance is received from emergency response officials. (3) Coordination with emergency response officials, including procedures for immediate notification to emergency dispatchers and local 911 operators of autonomous vehicle immobilizations, obstructions, and accidents that involve damage to persons or property. (c) Any commercial autonomous vehicle obstructing a travel lane, crosswalk, intersection, transit lane, bicycle lane, freight corridor, emergency access route, space or ramp designated for disabled persons when not carrying a disabled passenger, or fire hydrant shall be relocated or removed as soon as possible, but in no case later than 5 minutes after the obstruction is detected if the autonomous vehicle is driveable, or no later than 30 minutes after the obstruction is detected if field personnel or towing is required, unless a shorter period is required by the department. (d) A commercial autonomous vehicle shall not interfere with emergency events, emergency operations, or law enforcement operations. 38803. The department shall adopt guidelines establishing reasonable response times for local incident technicians to be present at the scene of an incident after an emergency response official or 911 dispatch center requests a local incident technician pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 38802. 38804. (a) Any commercial autonomous vehicle operated without a human driver on a highway in this state that is equipped with controls that allow someone physically present to drive the vehicle shall be equipped with a manual override system in the vehicle that allows local incident technicians, emergency response officials, tow operators, and trained personnel to readily and safely disable the vehicle, place the vehicle in neutral gear to relocate it during an emergency, and turn off the vehicle. (b) The manual override system shall comply with all of the following: (1) Be reviewed and approved by the Department of the California Highway Patrol pursuant to Section 38805. (2) To the extent possible, comply with standardized protocols for taking manual control over autonomous vehicles. (3) Be able to be activated by local incident technicians, emergency response officials, tow operators, and other trained personnel. (4) Permit removal of autonomous vehicles from travel lanes, intersections, or other roadways. (5) Operate independently of the automated driving system as necessary. (c) The autonomous vehicle manufacturer shall provide manual override training and written guidance in compliance with Section 38805 to local incident responders, emergency response officials, and towing providers regarding the manual override system, including safe disabling, relocation, and communication procedures. (1) The manual override training shall be offered to all emergency response officials with jurisdiction in areas the autonomous vehicle operates. (2) The manual override training shall be reviewed on a regular basis by the manufacturer and updated as changes are needed. (3) The manual override training shall be reviewed and approved by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training pursuant to Section 38805. (b) A manufacturer of any commercial autonomous vehicle that is not equipped with manual controls for completing the dynamic driving task, such as a steering wheel, brake pedal, and accelerator pedal, shall ensure that remote assistants or remote drivers have the ability to place an autonomous vehicle in neutral to allow an emergency response official to move the autonomous vehicle, or to cause the autonomous vehicle to move as directed by an emergency response official, or to turn off the vehicle and have it remain stationary until otherwise directed by an emergency response official. (c) If a commercial autonomous vehicle is unable to be relocated pursuant to subdivision (b), the manufacturer shall immediately dispatch either a local incident technician pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 38802 or a tow operator as requested by an emergency response official to safely disable, relocate, and turn off the vehicle. (d) Notwithstanding any other law, the department shall not permit the deployment of any autonomous vehicle that does not comply with this section. 38805. (a) (1) The Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training shall develop uniform guidelines and requirements for the manual override training and written guidance required to be provided by autonomous vehicle manufacturers pursuant to Section 38804. manufacturers. These guidelines and requirements shall be consistent with the course or courses of instruction and guidelines implemented by the commission for law enforcement officers pursuant to Section 13519.16 of the Penal Code, as applicable. (2) (b) The commission shall establish a process to review and certify any manual override training and written guidance developed by autonomous vehicle manufacturers pursuant to Section 38804. manufacturers. (3) (c) The commission may charge autonomous vehicle manufacturers a fee sufficient to cover the reasonable regulatory costs associated with administering this subdivision. section. (b) The Department of the California Highway Patrol shall establish a process to review and approve manual override systems for compliance with Section 38804. The department may charge autonomous vehicle manufacturers a fee sufficient to cover the reasonable regulatory costs associated with administering this subdivision. 38806. (a) An autonomous vehicle manufacturer shall maintain records on all of the following: response times and responses to emergency events, immobilizations, obstructions, accidents involving damage to persons or property, and requests from emergency response officials. (1) Information pertaining to the compliance of remote assistants, remote drivers, and local incident technicians with this chapter, including driver’s license information and driving records. (2) Assignments and staffing for remote assistants, remote drivers, and local incident technicians, including supervision duration, and incident response and resolution information. (3) All incidents involving the monitoring or control of commercial autonomous vehicles by remote assistants, remote drivers, or local incident technicians who are not licensed in this state. (4) All incidents involving immobilizations, obstructions, emergency events, emergency operations, law enforcement operations, and any emergency response official, law enforcement, or traffic officer. (5) All incidents in which a commercial autonomous vehicle is involved in damage to persons or property. (6) Response times and responses to emergency events, immobilizations, obstructions, accidents involving damage to persons or property, and requests from emergency response officials. (b) The records shall be provided to the department and Public Utilities Commission upon request. (c) Summary statistics showing the number of incidents, including obstruction and immobilization incidents, response times, and incidents in which manual control of commercial autonomous vehicles was necessary or control was exercised by remote assistants, remote drivers, or local incident technicians, shall be provided to the department and commission on a monthly basis and shall be published by the department and commission on their respective internet websites. The information required by this subdivision shall be provided in an aggregated data format that anonymizes all information. 38807. A violation of this chapter is not a crime and subject to the following civil penalties and administrative actions: (a) A city, county, or city and county may impose a civil penalty of five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each violation of Section 38801, Section 38802, the autonomous vehicle manufacturers’ permit, or any regulation authorizing the autonomous vehicle manufacturers’ operations. Penalties shall be payable to the jurisdiction enforcing the violation. (b) A city, county, or city and county may impose the following civil penalties on autonomous vehicle manufacturers for violations of Section 38803. (1) One thousand dollars ($1,000) per driveable commercial autonomous vehicle for an obstruction lasting more than five minutes. (2) Five thousand dollars ($5,000) per commercial autonomous vehicle for an obstruction lasting more than 30 minutes. (3) Ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per commercial autonomous vehicle for an obstruction during, or that otherwise causes interference with, emergency events, emergency operations, or law enforcement operations. (c) Penalties assessed pursuant to this section shall be payable to the jurisdiction enforcing the violation. For purposes of this section, a city may impose civil penalties for violations within the city limits. A county may impose civil penalties for violations within the unincorporated areas of the county. 38807. (a) A violation of this chapter is not a crime. (b) A city attorney or county counsel may bring a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction for the violations described in paragraphs (1) and (2), inclusive, on behalf of a city, county, or city and county. The court may impose civil penalties payable to the jurisdiction bringing the action as follows: (1) A civil penalty of up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each violation of Section 38801, Section 38802, the autonomous vehicle manufacturers’ permit, or any regulation authorizing the autonomous vehicle manufacturers’ operations. (2) A civil penalty of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per commercial autonomous vehicle that causes an obstruction during, or that otherwise causes interference with, emergency events, emergency operations, or law enforcement operations for a period of more than 30 minutes from the moment an emergency response official requests a local incident technician. (c) For purposes of this section, a jurisdiction may bring an action for violations that occur within the limits of the city, county, or city and county. A county may bring an action for violations that occur within the unincorporated areas of that county.