California makes robotaxi operators answer for vehicles that block emergency crews
California will require robotaxi operators to supply on-the-ground support to first responders under Senate Bill 1246, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom and taking effect in July 2028. Companies such as Tesla, Waymo and Zoox face penalties if a vehicle blocks police or firefighters for more than thirty minutes, must provide local incident technicians, and may use only remote drivers based in the United States holding a United States license.
Part of the cost of running robotaxis had been sitting outside company books: in some cases, police and firefighters were the ones moving robotaxis that impeded traffic, entered crime scenes or interfered with emergency work. The new rules shift that unpaid public labor back onto the operators as staffed technicians, notification duties and penalties, turning a burden carried by public services into a line on the companies' own accounts.
Source: TechCrunch Startups · October 4, 2026