California Law Puts Robotaxi Operators on the Hook for Blocking First Responders

California has enacted legislation requiring autonomous vehicle companies to provide on-the-ground support when their robotaxis become disabled or obstruct emergency personnel, with financial penalties for companies whose vehicles block first responders for more than 30 minutes.

Senate Bill 1246, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom, applies to companies including Tesla, Waymo, and Zoox. The law, which takes effect in July 2028, was authored by state Senator Dave Cortese and represents California's most direct attempt yet to hold AV operators accountable for real-world incidents involving autonomous vehicles.

"California has embraced autonomous vehicles, but we cannot embrace innovation at the expense of public safety. When an autonomous vehicle crashes, breaks down, blocks a roadway in an emergency, or gets in the way of law enforcement or first responders, there must be clear accountability," Cortese said in a statement.

According to a TechCrunch investigation earlier this year, a number of incidents occurred in which Waymo relied on first responders to manually drive its vehicles when they encountered problems. Those incidents prompted state and federal lawmakers to call for stricter oversight, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent a letter to AV developers demanding they produce "solutions" to the problem.

The law follows a broader pattern of high-profile incidents in California in which robotaxis broke down and disrupted traffic, drove into crime scenes, or impeded emergency responders. The bulk of those incidents involved Waymo, the largest robotaxi operator in the United States, which operates a commercial fleet of approximately 4,000 autonomous vehicles nationwide — about 1,200 of them in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Among the law's requirements, AV companies must notify cities, towns, and local jurisdictions about vehicle location and status during system-wide failures. They must also deploy "local incident technicians" capable of assisting with accidents and obstructions, and they may only employ remote drivers who are based in the United States and hold a U.S. driver's license.

The remote driver provision is notably specific. The law uses the term to describe a human who directly operates a vehicle from a distance — a distinction from broader "remote assistance" arrangements, in which the self-driving system remains in control and a human employee provides guidance or sends software commands.

Tesla is the only company that has publicly stated it employs remote operators capable of taking direct control of its robotaxis. Waymo has said it uses remote assistance, not direct remote operation, and maintains a global network of remote assistance staff, including personnel in the Philippines, with command centers in Arizona and Michigan. Zoox has said its remote operations teams are based in the United States.

Both Waymo and Zoox said they intend to comply with the new law. "We are grateful for the amendments made to the bill, which ensure autonomous vehicle operators can still feasibly serve Californians," a Waymo spokesperson said in a statement. "Waymo is committed to making roads safer in California and continually improving our service."

The California Department of Motor Vehicles, which regulates autonomous vehicles in the state, will establish guidelines on specific aspects of the law, including required response times. That rulemaking process will shape how the penalties and operational requirements are enforced in practice.

The legislation arrives as the AV industry continues to scale commercial deployments across the country, underscoring the pressure on regulators to keep pace with an industry that has expanded faster than the legal frameworks designed to govern it. With the law's July 2028 effective date, companies have roughly two years to restructure their remote operations and support infrastructure accordingly.

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