New bill requires self-driving cars to report traffic violations, malfunctions to DMV

( KRON ) — A new bill requiring self-driving cars, or autonomous vehicles (AVs), to report all accidents, traffic violations, and malfunctions to the DMV passed the assembly floor and is heading to the governor’s office.

“This is all about safety,” Assemblymember Matt Haney, author of the bill, said. “AV companies are preparing to roll out in nearly every city in California, but data on which companies are safe and law-abiding and which aren’t is being kept from the public and the state.”

According to Haney, the DMV does not require self-driving cars to report violations or malfunctions despite being responsible for issuing permits and regulating safety testing for AVs on all California roads.

“As families may choose to rely on AVs for daily activities like getting to school, work, and the grocery store, we have a responsibility to make sure they are safe,” Haney said.

In 2022, AV company Waymo sued the California DMV to block a public records request from an unidentified party. It claimed that sharing such data should be private as sharing the information would put the company at a competitive disadvantage. Waymo ended up winning the bid.

Haney says the DMV hasn’t updated its safety regulations since 2018 “but has still continued to authorize permits for more than 40 companies to test their cars in San Francisco.” He says the city is especially vulnerable because most AV companies are located in his East San Francisco district.

I’m supportive of the technology and want it done right. But as they grow from testing to full deployment, there’s a lot that’s not being shared and that hurts trust, it hurts transparency, and it hurts safety. It’s common sense for the DMV and local governments to have the data they need to keep people safe.

Assemblymember Matt Haney

If approved, the bill aims to disclose “essential” safety data such as collisions and traffic violations of the DMV. Once logged, Haney says this data will be accessible to the public.

He says this bill would mirror what is already required on the federal level by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for AV data reporting.

Assembly Bill 3061 will be heard in the Assembly Transportation Committee in the upcoming weeks.

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