California’s SB 1246 authorizes courts to impose a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per covered commercial autonomous vehicle when it obstructs or otherwise interferes with an emergency event, emergency operations, or law-enforcement operations for more than 30 minutes after an emergency response official requests a local incident technician. The penalty is a possible maximum, not an automatic ticket. The law’s new provisions take effect July 1, 2028.
What triggers the potential $10,000 penalty?
SB 1246, enacted as Chapter 1021 and approved September 30, 2026, sets a specific clock: the more-than-30-minute period begins when an emergency response official requests a local incident technician. The statute authorizes a court to impose up to $10,000 per commercial autonomous vehicle for qualifying obstruction or other interference with an emergency event, emergency operations, or law-enforcement operations. It does not make $10,000 an automatic or fixed fine. Read the enacted text of SB 1246.
When deciding a penalty, a court may consider the violation’s severity and duration, its consequences, its effect on emergency response or public safety, whether it was repeated, and relevant mitigating or aggravating circumstances.
How the two civil-penalty ceilings differ
The law establishes a separate penalty for failing to meet the local incident technician dispatch and related response requirements in Section 38801. That civil penalty may be up to $5,000 for each violation. The $10,000 ceiling, by contrast, concerns qualifying interference with emergency or law-enforcement activity lasting beyond the specified 30-minute period after an official requests a technician.
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What manufacturers must do
Dispatch and recover vehicles
Manufacturers must ensure a local incident technician is immediately dispatched after notice of specified crashes, immobilizations, obstructions, roadway hazards, or a request from an emergency response official or 911 dispatch center. A technician can coordinate on the manufacturer’s behalf and manually move or tow a vehicle.
If a fleetwide emergency or system failure could create a traffic hazard or impede emergency response, manufacturers must immediately notify affected jurisdictions of fleet location and status. They must deploy technicians where appropriate when vehicles cannot be recovered remotely.
Respond to emergency area directions
Officials may send an emergency geofencing message directing a fleet to leave or avoid an area. Manufacturers must direct their fleet to comply within two minutes. This is distinct from sending a technician to a vehicle: geofencing is a fleet-level direction, while technician dispatch addresses an incident and may involve manual relocation or towing.
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Provide access to a human operator
Emergency lines and in-vehicle two-way communication must provide access to a remote human operator within 30 seconds. Manufacturers must also maintain emergency communications and capacity for concurrent remote-assistance or teleoperations sessions.
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The law requires manufacturers to maintain quarterly records, and the DMV to publish quarterly summary statistics.
Remote drivers and remote assistants are different roles
SB 1246 distinguishes a remote driver, who performs real-time parts of the driving task such as steering or braking, from a remote assistant, who may advise or provide revised goals but does not remotely drive. Remote drivers must be in the United States and have a California-valid license of the appropriate class, including required endorsements. This distinction matters because remote assistance is not the same as taking control of a vehicle.
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When does the law take effect, and what is still to be set?
The new provisions become operative July 1, 2028. By that date, the DMV must adopt reasonable response-time guidelines for local incident technicians. The law directs the DMV to account for factors such as geography, incident type and severity, road and traffic conditions, fleet concentration, and public-safety needs. It does not itself set one statewide technician-arrival time; the future guidelines will shape what response times are considered reasonable.
What the reported incidents and company responses establish
TechCrunch reported on October 1, 2026, that the law followed incidents in California in which robotaxis broke down, disrupted traffic, entered crime scenes, or impeded responders. Its report does not give an incident count or rate, so those examples do not establish how frequently such events occur. TechCrunch’s report on the law.
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