SB1246 - Autonomous vehicles.

Enrolled September 04, 2026 Passed IN Senate August 31, 2026 Passed IN Assembly August 30, 2026 Amended IN Assembly August 21, 2026 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 13519.18 to the Penal Code, and to amend, repeal, and add Section 38751 of, to add Section 38754 to, to add the heading of Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 38750) to Division 16.6 of, and to add Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 38800) to Division 16.6 of, the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1246, 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 (department), 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 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 and to equip each autonomous vehicle with a 2-way voice communication device that enables emergency response officials who are near the vehicle to communicate effectively with a remote human operator, as specified. Under existing law, an “emergency response official” includes, but is not limited to, emergency dispatchers, peace officers, as specified, and first responders. This bill would require manufacturers of autonomous vehicles to maintain communications capacity sufficient to support the maximum number of concurrent remote assistance or teleoperations sessions, as specified. The bill would require remote drivers to be located within the United States and hold a driver’s license that is valid for operation in California, is of the appropriate class, and includes any required endorsements. 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 a crash or other incident 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 that may create a traffic hazard or impeded emergency response, 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. The bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2028, to adopt guidelines establishing reasonable response times for local incident technicians to be present at the scene upon the request of an emergency response official or 911 dispatch center. The bill would expand the definition of “emergency response official” for these purposes to also include traffic control, traffic enforcement, and parking enforcement personnel from a public agency in an applicable jurisdiction. The bill would require autonomous vehicle manufacturers, for an autonomous vehicle that operates as a commercial vehicle and that is not equipped with manual controls for completing the dynamic driving task, 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, cause the autonomous vehicle to move as directed by an emergency response official, or turn off the vehicle and have it remain stationary until otherwise directed by an emergency response official. The bill would require autonomous vehicle manufacturers to maintain data on response times of local incident technicians and responses to fleetwide emergencies or system failures, emergency events, immobilizations, obstructions, crashes, and requests from emergency response officials. The bill would require autonomous vehicle manufacturers to provide this data to the department quarterly and would require the department to publish summary statistics on its internet website, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to share records with the Public Utilities Commission to support regulatory oversight of autonomous vehicle passenger service operations. The bill would specify that a violation of the above provisions is not 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. 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 (POST) within 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. This bill would require 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. The bill would authorize POST to impose fees sufficient to cover the reasonable regulatory costs associated with administering these provisions. The bill would require POST to implement a course or courses of instruction for voluntary training of law enforcement officers, as defined, on autonomous vehicles that operate as commercial 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. (3) The bill would make its provisions operative July 1, 2028. 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) 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. (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 13519.18 is added to the Penal Code, to read: 13519.18. (a) (1) The commission shall implement a course or courses of instruction for voluntary training of law enforcement officers on autonomous vehicles operating as commercial vehicles pursuant to Section 260 of the Vehicle Code 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) Existing state regulatory standards for an autonomous vehicle operating as a commercial vehicle during an emergency. (2) Standardized protocols for law enforcement use of manual override systems in an emergency. (3) Standardized protocols for law enforcement interaction with an autonomous vehicle operating as a commercial vehicle during an emergency. (4) Processes for the issuance of a notice of autonomous vehicle noncompliance. (c) Law enforcement agencies are encouraged to include periodic updates and training on autonomous vehicles in any advanced officer training program. If appropriate, the training presenters should include companies that operate autonomous vehicles as commercial 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 autonomous vehicles that operate as commercial vehicles. (f) This section shall become operative July 1, 2028. 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. Section 38751 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read: 38751. (a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply: (1) “Emergency geofencing message” means a message delivered using commonly available communication methods to identify a location using a street address, intersection, coordinates, or any other reasonable and customary way of identifying a location, that directs an autonomous vehicle to leave or avoid an area because of an emergency. (2) “Emergency response official” includes, but is not limited to, emergency dispatchers, peace officers as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, and first responders. (3) “Emergency” means a sudden, unexpected occurrence demanding immediate action to prevent or mitigate loss or damage to life, health, property, or essential public services. (b) A manufacturer shall comply with all of the following requirements: (1) (A) A manufacturer operating an autonomous vehicle under a testing permit or deployment permit issued by the department shall maintain a dedicated emergency response telephone line that is available for emergency response officials during all hours when an autonomous vehicle is on a public road. The telephone line shall be available at no cost to public agencies. (B) The manufacturer shall continuously monitor the status of each autonomous vehicle on a public road and shall equip and staff the telephone line to ensure that calls are picked up within 30 seconds by a remote human operator who has situational awareness of all autonomous vehicles on public roads. (C) The remote human operator shall have the ability to immobilize the autonomous vehicle, allow an emergency respons [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]