Who gets the traffic ticket in a driverless vehicle if it breaks the law? No one, if you’re letting the computer take the wheel in California. According to a new report, law enforcement officers in the state can only issue citations for vehicles with actual drivers.
NBC Bay Area obtained an internal memo from San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott that said officers could not issue citations for vehicles in a driverless mode for any moving violations. However, they are not entirely immune from the rules of the road, as self-driving vehicles are still susceptible to receiving parking tickets.
The current law in California doesn’t consider these new technologies, creating an odd legal gap between self-driving cars and real drivers, but it’s not powerless. The state suspended General Motors’ Cruise robotaxis from operating late last month, citing safety concerns, and other states have taken proactive steps with the technology.
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