The California State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has been committed to encouraging innovation and promoting road safety. Prioritizing self-driving cars’ safety concerns, the California DMV is focusing on making new rules to update its regulations governing the AV deployment and testing. DMV-established regulations are designed to govern the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles (AV) running on the streets of California.
This article provides a detailed insight into the rules of governing AVs in California and how these rules ensure the safety of self-driving cars in the city.
Drafting New Regulations: A Step Towards AV Security in California
DMV has started a formal process to draft rules updating regulations for testing and deploying autonomous vehicles across California. It invites stakeholders and the public to submit written comments on the proposed regulatory language. The proposed rules apply to both heavy-duty and light-duty vehicles, involving 10,001 pounds for heavy-duty vehicles. According to this new regulatory change, testing and deployment of AVs are now possible with a DMV-approved permit.
The updated regulations are designed to improve data reporting requirements for light-duty vehicles and integrate legislative updates from AB 1777, including enhanced interaction protocols with new procedures for reporting potential non-compliance with traffic regulations. These requirements reflect DMV’s commitment to public safety and regulatory robustness in the evolving autonomous technology field.
To collect public feedback on this regulatory proposal, 45 days were given from 25 April, 2025, which lasted till June 9, 2025. During this period, written public comments were submitted, and DMV hosted a public hearing to collect additional input afterwards.
What Does the New Regulation Propose?
Unlike the states of Texas, Arkansas, and Arizona, California is the only state with stable regulations prohibiting the operation of an autonomous vehicle with a vehicular weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more. In 2014, DMV initially adopted regulations to test autonomous vehicles with a driver inside. However, it has been since 2018 that the department allowed testing of AVs without the presence of a safety driver and deployment of autonomous technology. A third set of regulations was introduced in 2019, which allowed the testing and deployment of light-duty autonomous motor trucks. At present, 31 manufacturers are responsible for testing AVs with test drivers on the streets of California. Only six manufacturers are authorized to test without safety drivers, and three manufacturers are allowed to deploy.
However, with the 2025 regulation proposal, the present prohibitions were removed to allow manufacturers to test and deploy heavy-duty autonomous vehicles on public roads. According to the DMV-proposed regulations, manufacturers are required to provide additional data elements and frequent reporting. For instance, reporting of vehicle mobilizations, which occur when a vehicle stops in an active travel street and cannot drive due to driving challenges, including mapping issues, public interaction, or loss of network connectivity.
During such situations, manufacturers are enabled to send a retrieval team to remove the vehicle from the road. Additionally, crash reporting is designed to align with existing guidelines enforced by the United States Department of Transportation and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The regulations also reinforce DMV’s enforcement authority by allowing it to assess incremental enforcement measures against any manufacturer when it feels that the incident does not require a full suspension of the permit.
While promoting the continued development of autonomous technology with a potential to increase safety and amplify mobility, the proposed regulation focuses on addressing issues concerning compliance with California laws, roadway safety, vehicle registration, and driver licensing.
In 2023, DMV facilitated two roundtable workshops in Southern and Northern California to collect feedback on AV’s interactions on public streets. In 2024, the department released draft autonomous vehicle regulations for informal stakeholder feedback and received the feedback by October 2024. Based on the results of the workshops, the department has devised the following regulatory actions for the testing and public deployment of autonomous heavy-duty commercial motor vehicles.
- Removed prohibition on operation of AVs with a vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more.
- Manufacturers of autonomous heavy-duty motor vehicles can only test and deploy driverless AVs that only allow operations on specified routes, legal for the weight, size, and loading.
- Prohibited operation on local roads with a speed limit of 25 miles per hour or less unless the roads fall within the shortest distance to freeways from motor carriers, hubs, distribution centers, charging stations, and others.
- Manufacturers must meet the existing state and federal commercial vehicle requirements for the type of vehicle and the type of commerce. For instance, compliance with all California weigh-station regulatory signs and devices and vehicle inspection requirements.
- Autonomous commercial vehicle test drivers, remote assistants, and remote drivers would also need to comply with requirements like licensing and others.
- Manufacturers must hold a permit to test with a safety driver in the vehicle initially, both for heavy-duty and light-duty operations, and then apply for a Driverless Testing Permit and a Deployment Permit.
- To apply for a Deployment Permit for light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles, a manufacturer must test a minimum of 50,000 miles throughout the designed operational domain.
- According to the DVM’s notice of proposed action, “For both light-duty and heavy-duty operations, changes to data reporting requirements include aligning crash reporting with the current requirements of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Standing General Order (Sections 227.54, 228.34), as well as requiring monthly reporting on disengagements (Section 227.56), vehicle immobilizations (Sections 227.58, 228.36), hard braking events (Section 227.46), and Dynamic Driving Task Performance Relevant System Failures (Section 228.38).”
- The regulation defines DVM’s process for obtaining information from a manufacturer regarding any incidents involving the operation of their AVs, and for reviewing their actions to address the causes of the incident.
- It also involves provisions to enhance interactions between first responders and driverless AVs.
- As per the regulation, remote operations personnel may assist an AV in certain circumstances, such as when the vehicle is under minimal risk or while interacting with first responders.
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