Official Summary Text
AB 2193, as amended, Ta.
Autonomous vehicles.
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 authorizes
a
peace
officers,
officer,
as defined, to issue
notices
a notice
of autonomous vehicle noncompliance upon observing an alleged violation of the Vehicle Code or upon observing an alleged violation of a local traffic ordinance adopted pursuant to the Vehicle Code by an autonomous vehicle while the autonomous technology is engaged.
This bill would additionally require that if an autonomous vehicle commits a traffic violation pursuant to the Vehicle Code, the traffic citation be issued to the registered owner of the autonomous vehicle if the autonomous vehicle does not have a person in the driver’s seat. The bill would require the traffic citation to be issued to the driver of the autonomous vehicle if the autonomous vehicle has a person in the driver’s seat, regardless of whether or not the autonomous technology is engaged, unless, among other reasons,
the autonomous vehicle is operating as a permitted passenger transport service and the person in the driver’s seat is a customer who is not in control of the vehicle and the traffic violation is committed while the autonomous technology is engaged, in which case the citation would be issued to the registered owner. The bill would authorize the citations to be issued by mail and authorize the holder of the testing permit or deployment permit to contest a citation or penalty issued pursuant to these provisions under the procedures of the Vehicle Code.
This bill would require a citation for a traffic violation by a level 4 or 5 autonomous vehicle to be issued to the manufacturer of the autonomous technology if a traffic violation was committed while either the vehicle did not have a person in the driver’s seat or the vehicle had a person in the driver’s seat and the
autonomous technology was engaged. The bill would authorize those citations to be issued by first-class mail. The bill would require a citation to be issued to the driver of an autonomous vehicle of any level if a traffic violation was committed while there was a person in the driver’s seat and the autonomous technology was not engaged. The bill would require a citation to be issued to the driver of a level 3 autonomous vehicle if a traffic violation was committed while there was a person in the driver’s seat and the autonomous technology was engaged. The bill would authorize the driver to, as a defense, raise that the autonomous technology was responsible for the traffic violation. The bill would require the citation to be issued to the manufacturer of the autonomous technology if the court determines that a level 3 autonomous vehicle was the cause of the traffic violation. The bill would authorize the holder of the testing permit or deployment permit to contest a citation or penalty.