Autonomous automobiles in San Francisco are exempt from site visitors tickets if there may be no one within the driver’s seat, based on the San Francisco police division (SFPD), underscoring ongoing authorized and security considerations surrounding the increasing know-how. California regulation has not caught as much as the automobiles, though they’re already on the highway, say public security companies and consultants.

SFPD coverage states that officers could make a site visitors cease of autonomous automobiles (AVs) for violations, however can solely problem a quotation if there’s a security driver within the car overseeing its operations. Since June 2022, autonomous automobiles have been permitted to function with out security drivers so long as they’re inside town limits. Officers can problem citations to the registered proprietor of an unoccupied car in absentia for non-moving violations similar to parking or registration offenses however not violations like rushing, working a purple mild, driving within the unsuitable lane or making an unlawful flip.

“Presently, no quotation for a shifting violation may be issued if the AV is being operated in a driverless mode,” the SFPD mentioned in a press release. The police didn’t elaborate as to why no site visitors citations may be given to self-driving automobiles. The company’s response comes after NBC Bay Space printed an inner memo on the matter from the SFPD chief, Invoice Scott.

Driverless automobiles’ exemption from site visitors citations highlights considerations consultants have that legal guidelines have been sluggish to catch as much as driverless know-how. Whereas different states which have authorised autonomous automobiles – together with Texas and Arizona – up to date their legal guidelines to adapt to self-driving automobiles, California has not. Arizona modified its highway security protocols in 2018 to state that if an autonomous car violates a site visitors regulation, an “officer might problem a quotation to the registered proprietor of the car” even when no human is current. A 2017 replace to Texas regulation states that the proprietor of an automatic driver system is taken into account the operator of the car within the case of a site visitors violation, “no matter whether or not the individual is bodily current within the car whereas the car is working”.

California, largely seen because the US’s largest marketplace for robotaxis, doesn’t have such authorized updates. Greater than 500 autonomous automobiles between companies Waymo and Cruise had been operational in San Francisco as of August even earlier than town authorised an enlargement, in contrast with 125 in Austin, Texas, for instance.

“It’s a giant problem as a result of California is the place nearly all of robotaxis are working,” mentioned Cassandra Burke Robertson, a professor at Case Western Reserve College faculty of regulation who has printed analyses of legal responsibility regulation because it pertains to self-driving automobiles. “It’s not nearly site visitors tickets, however how we are going to regulate autonomous automobiles extra broadly.”

One other public security company threw up its fingers on the query of site visitors tickets for autonomous automobiles, disclaiming that it couldn’t implement legal guidelines that didn’t exist. In a press release, the California division of motor automobiles mentioned that as a part of the allowing course of to hit the roads, an autonomous car have to be licensed to adjust to “all provisions of the California Automobile Code”. Although the car code requires that robotaxis adjust to site visitors legal guidelines, absent from it are clauses specifying how regulation enforcement ought to deal with a misbehaving self-driving automobile and what penalties apply.

“The DMV acknowledges that autonomous know-how is an evolving know-how and stays dedicated to enhancing the regulatory construction to replicate the continued growth of the know-how,” the company mentioned.

While the SFPD clarified it cannot issue tickets to autonomous vehicles, the California highway patrol did not respond to a request for comment on its own policies on robotaxis. The Los Angeles police department, which has allowed self-driving cars in a limited capacity as of October 2023, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether autonomous vehicles can be ticketed in the city.

The traffic ticket issue comes as San Francisco grapples with safety concerns surrounding driverless vehicles, which first came to the city in a limited capacity in 2022. In August 2023, self-driving car companies Waymo and Cruise were approved to expand operations following a controversial vote, despite complaints about a number of issues including vehicles blocking emergency response teams.

In the weeks and months that followed the proliferation of the cars, locals reported the vehicles were causing “mayhem” in the city, and Cruise was forced to pull its driverless cars off the road after one of its vehicles was involved in a high-profile crash that nearly killed a pedestrian in October. Officials have accused the General Motors subsidiary of withholding crucial information on the accident, during which the pedestrian was dragged under the car. Waymo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Cruise, which is not currently operating in a fully driverless capacity in San Francisco, declined to comment.

After Cruise pulled its cars from the streets of San Francisco, autonomous vehicle firms may be rethinking their strategies – which was a good thing for public safety, Robertson said.

“Cruise tried to ramp up very quickly in 2023, and that’s when we started to hear reports of problems in San Francisco,” she said. “In 2024, they’re taking a step back and saying they are going to work closely with local officials.”