California Lets Cops Give Tickets To Robocars, Which Is Ridiculous

InnovationTransportationCalifornia Lets Cops Give Tickets To Robocars, Which Is RidiculousByBrad Templeton,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Brad Templeton, who was early at Waymo, covers transportation's futureFollow AuthorMay 21, 2026, 08:30am EDTMy Waymo in L.A. parked blocking a lane to drop me off. Is ticketing the best way to deal with this?Brad TempletonA recent update to the California regulations around self-driving cars “fixes” a flaw in the earlier rules--it wasn’t clear how to cite a self-driving car if it violates the traffic rules, a situation where an officer would give a human driver a traffic ticket. The old rules demand you hand moving violation tickets to a driver. It was not intended to make the robotaxis immune to traffic citations, but it frustrated police departments and cities who have found themselves without weapons in the back-and-forth with the robotaxi companies. At the same time, the traffic ticket system, designed for humans, makes very little sense for robocars, so this was the wrong fix.Human drivers break the law all the time, usually knowing they are doing it. Tickets are meant to strike fear into their hearts. Enforcement is random, but scary and it keeps people (somewhat) in line. Robots have no fear, obviously, but companies that run them can have fear. Generally, the companies spending billions to make this technology have no fear of random traffic fines. They are very afraid of things that could cause them to lose their permits or get their whole fleet shut down in a city. They are also afraid of generating distrust among the riding public--it is essential the public feel the vehicles are safe to ride in.Generally, most situations where a robocar would violate the traffic rules and deserve a ticket will be mistakes. The company doesn’t want the vehicle violating the code, and once informed, will work quickly to fix it, and it won’t happen again, at least not for the s...