San Bruno Police Department/Facebook
"Our citation books don't have a box for 'robot,'" the San Bruno Police Department posted on Facebook after pulling over a Waymo robotaxi that allegedly made an illegal U-turn. Police were running a DUI enforcement operation when they observed the driverless Waymo Jaguar I-Pace perform the maneuver right in front of them at a traffic light. "That's right... no driver, no hands, no clue," says the post.
California state law currently requires officers to issue citations for moving violations only to human drivers, San Bruno Sgt. Scott Smithmatungol told NBC News. In general, this is a good thing, as it ensures that the driver who committed the violation is the person who gets the ticket, not the owner of the car if they are not behind the wheel at the time. But in cars that don't have human drivers, there's no person to ticket, creating a legal loophole that lets robotaxis off the hook for bad behavior. (No such law applies to non-moving violations, and Waymo collected 589 parking tickets last year.)
San Bruno Police did contact Waymo to inform it about the observed violation. "Hopefully the reprogramming will keep it from making any more illegal moves," it wrote in the post. Waymo responded to the Los Angeles Times about the incident:
Waymo spokesperson Julia Ilina said the company's vehicles are already subject to close, ongoing oversight by California regulators, and that the company's autonomous driving system "is designed to respect the rules of the road."
"We are looking into this situation and are committed to improving road safety through our ongoing learnings and experience," Ilina said.
As usual, the legal system moves too slowly to keep up with technological developments. We predicted this would happen back in 2023, and San Bruno Police validated this prediction by following the law to the letter. Last year, Representative Phil Ting introduced Assembly Bill 1777, which was intended to make robotaxis liable for moving violations and allow police to ticket driverless cars. However, the version Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law got defanged late in the legislative process, and only allows law enforcement to report "noncompliance" to the state Department of Motor Vehicles rather than issue tickets.
How is this different from the "close, ongoing oversight by California regulators" Waymo says it is already under? From NBC Bay Area:
The legislation's own analysis notes the bill "does not establish what happens to an [autonomous vehicle] manufacturer as a result of the notice being issued." Additionally, "the bill does not provide what happens to an [autonomous vehicle] company when they receive a notice of noncompliance, what happens when an [autonomous vehicle] company fails to report the notice to DMV, and what due process rights an [autonomous vehicle] manufacturer has to contest a notice."
The Teamsters are upset, and you don't want to upset the Teamsters. They say that rather than holding robotaxi companies accountable for their vehicles' actions, AB 1777 takes California backward.
"Instead of giving law enforcement officers the ability to fine or ticket [autonomous vehicle] companies for traffic violations, officers may only issue a "notice of noncompliance" for traffic violations committed," the Teamsters noted.
"This creates unequal enforcement, where a human driver can be cited or even charged for traffic violations, but [autonomous vehicle] companies are only noticed through the DMVs."
Arizona and Texas have changed their laws to allow police to cite robotaxis, though it's still up to the officer's discretion whether to issue a ticket or give a warning, just like with human drivers. However, California will remain in a new sort of limbo once the new law takes effect on July 1, 2026.