California Police Gain Power to Ticket Waymo Robotaxis Under New State Law Taking Effect July 1
Why It Matters
California is closing a significant gap in traffic enforcement law that has allowed autonomous vehicles to operate in a legal gray zone — committing moving violations with no mechanism for police to hold anyone accountable. Starting July 1, that changes, with real consequences for companies like Waymo that operate driverless robotaxis across the state.
The new framework, rooted in Assembly Bill 1777, establishes for the first time a formal process allowing law enforcement officers to issue citations directly to autonomous vehicle manufacturers rather than human drivers — a shift with broad implications for public safety, corporate accountability, and the future of self-driving technology on California roads.
What Happened
The California Department of Motor Vehicles announced Tuesday that a suite of statewide autonomous vehicle regulations will go into effect July 1, including a new “notice of AV noncompliance” process for ticketing driverless cars that break traffic laws.
Under previous California law, traffic citations could only be issued to a licensed human driver — meaning autonomous vehicles that ran red lights, made illegal turns, or failed to stop for school buses effectively faced no direct legal consequence at the point of the violation. That loophole is now being addressed through legislation.
The announcement comes months after a self-driving Waymo vehicle made an illegal U-turn at a traffic light directly in front of police officers in San Bruno, with an officer photographed peering into the car’s empty driver’s seat. Other incidents — including a Waymo failing to stop for a school bus in Atlanta and a collision with a child in Santa Monica — underscored the urgency of establishing enforceable standards.
Waymo currently operates the most expansive autonomous vehicle service in California, with driverless robotaxis navigating passengers through the San Francisco Bay Area and dozens of cities in Los Angeles County. A Waymo spokesperson said in prior public remarks, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, that the company’s vehicles are already subject to close regulatory oversight and that its autonomous driving system “is designed to respect the rules of the road.”
By the Numbers
July 1, 2026 — the date the new AV noncompliance rules take effect statewide.
72 hours — the window within which an officer who does not conduct a traffic stop must provide a copy of the violation to the DMV and the manufacturer.
100 vehicles — the approximate size of Waymo’s Los Angeles County fleet, which does not currently operate on freeways.
Multiple cities — Waymo currently serves the San Francisco Bay Area and dozens of Los Angeles County municipalities, making it the largest autonomous vehicle operator in California.
How the New Enforcement Process Works
When an officer observes a traffic violation by an autonomous vehicle, they may issue a notice of AV noncompliance to the manufacturer. If a collision is involved, an officer may issue the citation to the manufacturer’s designated representative who arrives on scene.
Manufacturers are now required to submit a “First Responder Interaction Plan” to the DMV and post it publicly online. These plans explain how law enforcement can interact with the vehicle and where officers can find registration, insurance, and other critical documents during a stop.
Driverless vehicles are expected under the new rules to recognize law enforcement lights and sirens and pull over when appropriate, according to the DMV. Once a notice of noncompliance is submitted, the DMV will review the incident, investigate as needed, and determine what corrective action — if any — is required. Repeated violations or failure to correct unsafe behavior could result in the DMV restricting or suspending a manufacturer’s operating permit.
“Because autonomous vehicles do not have a human driver — and existing citations must be issued to a licensed person — the law establishes a new mechanism that allows moving violations to be issued to an autonomous vehicle manufacturer,” DMV spokesperson Jonathan Groveman said in a written statement.
Zoom Out
California is not alone in grappling with how to regulate increasingly common autonomous vehicles on public roads. Amazon-backed Zoox has been expanding its robotaxi footprint in San Francisco, and other companies are pushing into additional markets. As law enforcement agencies across Southern California handle an increasing variety of technology-related incidents on public roads, the question of legal accountability for driverless systems is becoming a national conversation.
California has long served as a bellwether for autonomous vehicle policy in the United States, and the state’s new enforcement framework is likely to be watched closely by regulators and legislators in other states considering similar measures.
What’s Next
With the July 1 effective date approaching, autonomous vehicle manufacturers operating in California must finalize and submit their First Responder Interaction Plans to the DMV and post them publicly. Law enforcement agencies across the state will need to train officers on the new noncompliance notice procedures.
The DMV retains authority to take administrative action — including permit restrictions or suspensions — against manufacturers who fail to correct repeated violations. As policy debates continue to shape California’s regulatory landscape, the state’s handling of autonomous vehicle accountability will likely set a precedent for how other jurisdictions approach the technology going forward.