How California’s New Robotaxi Law Could Fine Waymo and Tesla $10,000

• Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 1246 on September 30, letting California cities fine driverless vehicle operators up to $10,000 when one of their cars blocks first responders for more than 30 minutes in an emergency.
• The bill followed complaints from San Francisco fire and emergency officials that robotaxis increasingly block fire stations and intersections; one 911 operator reportedly waited 53 minutes on hold trying to reach Waymo support in the middle of an active incident.
• Waymo, Tesla, and Zoox all run or plan driverless fleets in California. Waymo and Zoox have said they will comply with the new rules, and Tesla has said it already uses remote operators who can take control of its robotaxis when needed.

When a Robotaxi Won’t Get Out of the Way

Anyone who shares a California street with a driverless car has likely seen one freeze in the wrong spot at the wrong time. State Sen. Dave Cortese’s bill, SB 1246, turns those moments of confusion into a real financial risk for the companies running the cars. Newsom signed it on September 30, giving local governments the power to fine autonomous vehicle operators up to $10,000 when one of their cars blocks police, fire, or ambulance crews from reaching an emergency for more than 30 minutes.

“California has embraced autonomous vehicles, but we cannot embrace innovation at the expense of public safety,” Cortese said after the signing. The law builds on an earlier state attempt at the same problem that Newsom vetoed last year, and arrives after years of complaints from fire departments that robotaxis freeze up exactly when crews need the street clear.

The Complaints Behind the Bill

San Francisco has logged the sharpest complaints. Fire Chief Patrick Rabbitt told state regulators that Waymo vehicles are “frequently now blocking our fire stations from access” and said the cars’ “default is to freeze” rather than move out of the way when a truck needs to pull out. Mary Ellen Carroll, who runs the city’s Department of Emergency Management, told regulators the vehicles are racking up more traffic violations than in earlier years of the rollout, not fewer.

The slowest part of the problem isn’t the car itself. It’s reaching a human who can move it. San Francisco officials described a case where a 911 dispatcher stayed on hold for 53 minutes trying to get through to Waymo’s support line in the middle of an active incident, and reported wait times of up to three minutes even in less urgent cases. Outside California, an Austin robotaxi blocked an ambulance for about two minutes while it responded to a downtown shooting that left three people dead and at least 14 injured; investigators have not linked the delay to any of the casualties.

What the Law Actually Requires

SB 1246 goes beyond fines. It requires driverless vehicle companies to give local jurisdictions better notice when a vehicle’s location or status changes in a system-wide failure, so dispatchers aren’t left guessing where a stalled fleet sits. Operators must also supply local incident technicians who can physically respond to crashes, obstructions, and other problems, with the California DMV expected to set rules on how fast that response has to happen. Remote operators who take direct control of a car on the road must be based in the US and hold a US driver’s license by July 1, 2028, a provision aimed at making sure whoever is steering a vehicle in an emergency actually knows American traffic law and local streets.

A separate DMV rule tied to the same push requires autonomous vehicle companies to respond to a first responder’s request within 30 seconds and lets emergency officials designate temporary no-go zones that a driverless car must clear within two minutes. Local technical-support requirements and the remote-driver licensing rule both phase in by July 2028, giving the industry more than a year to staff up before penalties apply in full.

How the Companies Are Responding

Waymo, which runs the largest robotaxi fleet in California, struck a cooperative tone after the signing. A company spokesperson said Waymo is “grateful for the amendments made to the bill” and is “committed to making roads safer in California.” Zoox, Amazon’s robotaxi unit, has likewise said it will comply with the new rules as it expands service in the state. Tesla, which has talked up its own robotaxi ambitions, has said publicly that it already employs remote operators who can take direct control of its vehicles, a structure that lines up with what the new law requires, though the company has not detailed how its current staffing would meet the 2028 deadline.

Labor advocates pushed for the bill alongside first responders. The service workers’ union SEIU 1021, which represents many public employees who deal with driverless vehicles on the job, backed SB 1246 as it moved through the legislature, and called it a basic safety standard rather than an attack on the technology itself.

How Other States Are Handling the Same Problem

California isn’t alone in writing new rules after watching driverless cars struggle around emergency crews. Texas requires every company running rides with no human driver aboard to carry an authorization from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and file a separate emergency interaction plan with the Texas Department of Public Safety, spelling out how the vehicle and its remote operator handle traffic stops, crash scenes, and other emergencies. That program took effect in September 2025, and penalties for operating without authorization began in May 2026, after a string of incidents in Austin pushed state lawmakers to tighten the rules companies had to follow. New York has moved in the opposite direction, with the governor opening the door to robotaxi service statewide while carving out one notable exception for stretches of road the state still wants to study further.

The split reflects a wider pattern. Planetizen counted four states plus the District of Columbia that passed new robotaxi laws this year alone, a sign state legislatures, not Congress, are setting the ground rules for an industry that still has no single federal safety standard built specifically for cars with no driver inside.

What To Do

Riders and pedestrians who see a driverless car blocking a fire truck, ambulance, or police vehicle should call 911 right away rather than waiting for the car to move on its own. Dispatchers can escalate the problem directly to the autonomous vehicle operator, and a documented 911 call creates the kind of record regulators now use to track how often these freezes happen. Anyone who wants to file a complaint about a specific incident can reach the California DMV’s New Technology and Autonomous Vehicles branch, which oversees driverless vehicle permits in the state, or report the incident to the vehicle operator’s own customer support line.

Drivers sharing the road with robotaxis should leave extra space around them near fire stations, hospitals, and busy intersections, where a sudden stop is more likely. The cars are programmed to stop rather than guess when a situation looks uncertain, and that caution, while meant to prevent collisions, is exactly what has been colliding with the needs of emergency crews in a hurry.

California’s new penalties won’t change driver behavior overnight. The $10,000 fine applies to the company running the fleet, not to any individual rider inside the car, and it only kicks in once a vehicle has blocked an emergency response for a full 30 minutes, a long window in a fast-moving incident. Fire officials who pushed for the bill see it as a starting point rather than a finished fix, one more lever alongside the DMV’s 30-second response rule and the two-minute no-go zone requirement that together are meant to shrink how often, and how long, a driverless car ends up in the way.

Sources:

• International Business Times UK: California Robotaxi Law 2028: Up to $10,000 Fines for Emergency Obstructions Over 30 Minutes Under SB 1246
• AutoGuide: Between Life And Death, Waymo Robotaxis Are Blocking Emergency Vehicles
• SEIU 1021: SB 1246 Advances, Brings California One Step Closer to Setting Critical Safety Standards
• Reyes Law: Texas Robotaxi Requirements, TxDMV, May 2026