California Law Prevents Police from Ticketing Driverless Cars for Moving Violations

While officers can pull over autonomous vehicles for traffic violations, they can only issue tickets for mechanical or registration issues due to current state law.

• Driverless cars in California, such as those from Waymo and Cruise, cannot be ticketed for moving violations due to current state law.
• San Francisco Police Department's policy states that no citation for a moving violation can be issued if the autonomous vehicle is being operated in a driverless mode.
• Police officers can pull over a driverless car for a traffic violation and take down information, but can only issue tickets for mechanical or registration violations.
• Other states like Texas and Arizona have updated their vehicle codes to allow officers to cite companies for moving violations by vehicles the companies own.
• California is expected to suggest legislation changes to the Vehicle Code to include moving violation tickets for autonomous cars.

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