(1) Existing law authorizes the operation of an autonomous vehicle on public roads for testing purposes by an operator 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. Commencing January 1, 2030, and to the extent authorized by federal law, existing law requires that an autonomous vehicle with a model year of 2031 or later, as specified, only be operated pursuant to a deployment permit if it is a zero-emission vehicle. Existing law defines an "autonomous vehicle" for these purposes to include a vehicle equipped with autonomous technology that meets the definition of Level 3, Level 4, or Level 5 of SAE International's standard J3016 from April 2021, as may be revised. Existing law excludes specific technologies from the definition of an autonomous vehicle, including, among other things, systems that enhance safety or provide driver assistance that are not capable of driving the vehicle without the active control or monitoring of a human operator. A violation of these provisions is punishable as an infraction.
This bill would instead require those zero-emission vehicle provisions to commence January 1, 2028, and apply to an autonomous vehicle with a model year of 2028 or later. This bill would revise the definition of autonomous vehicle to include a vehicle equipped with autonomous technology that meets the definition of Level 2 of that standard and restrict that definition only to the April 2021 version of the standard. The bill would also clarify that an autonomous vehicle has the ability to intentionally depart from its current lane of travel on a marked roadway while under the control of a driving automation system. This bill would delete the active control or monitoring exception and instead exclude systems that enhance safety or provide driver assistance that are not capable of sustained automated steering of the vehicle.
(2) Existing law requires the department to adopt regulations setting forth, among other things, requirements for the submission of evidence of insurance, a surety bond, or self-insurance. Existing law authorizes the department to establish additional requirements that are necessary to ensure the safe operation of an autonomous vehicle on public roads, including, among others, new license requirements for the operator of an autonomous vehicle.
This bill would additionally require the department to adopt regulations for training, testing, and application fees necessary to recover all reasonable regulatory costs incurred by the department to implement autonomous vehicle-related provisions, as well as administrative fines and penalties for violating specified provisions. The bill would require the department to adopt any regulation necessary to implement these provisions to ensure the safe operation of an autonomous vehicle on public roads. The bill would, if the department adopts a special driver's license designation for an operator of an autonomous vehicle, require an operator to have that designation prior to operating an autonomous vehicle. By creating a new infraction for operating an autonomous vehicle without a special driver's license designation, contingent upon the department adopting that designation, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(3) Existing law prohibits a person from making specific modifications to a vehicle, including, among other things, adding a whistle-tip to the exhaust system of a motor vehicle. For purposes of autonomous vehicles, existing law defines a "manufacturer" as the person who manufactures a vehicle and equips autonomous technology on the originally completed vehicle or, in the case of a vehicle not originally equipped with autonomous technology, the person who modifies the vehicle by installing autonomous technology to convert it to an autonomous vehicle.
This bill would make it a crime to modify a vehicle with before-market or aftermarket additions of software to give the vehicle the functionality of an autonomous vehicle. The bill would make it a crime to sell, lease, or transfer title to a vehicle that has been modified to make it an autonomous vehicle. This bill would make a violation of these provisions punishable by a fine not exceeding $10,000, by imprisonment, as specified, or by both that fine and imprisonment. The bill would require an autonomous vehicle owned or operated in this state that is manufactured after January 1, 2028, to be equipped with an electronic sensing device that can detect the presence of an unattended child under 6 years of age or a pet left inside the vehicle and for the vehicle to have the ability to notify the vehicle's owner or first responders of the presence of the unattended child or pet. By creating new crimes, this bill would establish a state-mandated local program.
(4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Statutes affected:
04/08/25 - Amended Senate: 38750 VEH