Californian Autonomous Vehicles Get a Revised Regulatory Load if New DMV Law Passes

On April 25, 2025, the California DMV released a notice of proposed regulations focused on changes to the testing and deployment of light-duty and heavy-duty commercial autonomous vehicles. California previously released draft regulations and asked for public comment, the last round ending August 30, 2024.

Here are the key updates:

Heavy Duty Vehicles Are Included, But Must Follow Current State And Federal Law

Section 227.26 is amended to now allow the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles with a gross weight rating of 10,001 pounds or greater, which had previously been excluded from the regulatory scheme. However, these heavy-duty vehicles will be limited to testing and deployment in an operational design domain that only includes routes legal for the vehicle’s size and weight load. They cannot operate on local roads with a speed limit of 25 mph or less unless those roads are “within the shortest distance to freeways from hubs, motor carrier and shipper facilities, distribution centers, fueling and charging stations, and end points, while using arterial roadways wherever possible.”

Certain commercial vehicle operations are excluded from this regulatory framework, meaning they cannot be approved for testing or deployment under proposed Section 227.26 of the revised regulations. Such vehicles include “household movers, commercial vehicles used to transport passengers, oversize loads, hazardous materials, and bulk liquids requiring a tank endorsement.” And manufacturers must still meet existing state and federal requirements for the type of vehicle, including California weigh station and inspection requirements.

New Phased System And Miles Requirements For Heavy-Duty And Light-Duty Vehicle Permitting

For both light-duty and heavy-duty operations, manufacturers will now be required to proceed through a path of cascading permits. This departs from current regulations allowing a manufacturer to apply for a “Deployment Permit” (current Article 3.8) without having ever been permitted for “testing” vehicles (current Article 3.7). Manufacturers will also now need to test autonomous vehicles (either light or heavy) for a minimum number of miles before applying for each type of permit.

 The newly cascading permitting would mean manufacturers:

(1) first apply for and hold a “permit to test” or “Drivered Testing Permit” with a safety driver in the autonomous test vehicle, then

(2) apply for and hold a “Driverless Testing Permit” and then

(3) finally apply for and hold a “Deployment Permit.”

For light-duty operations:

• A manufacturer would be required to test in the proposed operational design domain, with a “Drivered Testing Permit,” for “a minimum of 50,000 miles, as well as provide the department with an assessment supporting the manufacturer’s safety claims” to obtain a Driverless Testing Permit.
• To apply for a Deployment Permit, a manufacturer would need 50,000 miles testing in that operational design domain with either a Drivered Testing Permit (for vehicles that require a driver physically located in the vehicle) or a valid Driverless Testing Permit (for vehicles capable of operating without a physical driver in the driver’s seat).

For heavy-duty operations:

• A manufacturer seeking a Driverless Testing Permit would need to test within a proposed operation design domain for a minimum of 500,000 miles and provide the DMV with those same safety assessments as for the light-duty vehicles. 100,000 of those miles must occur in California, and “[u]p to 400,000 of these miles may occur in other jurisdictions contingent on the manufacturer providing a summary of testing from that jurisdiction, including collisions, disengagements, and braking events.”
• To apply for a Deployment Permit, a manufacturer must test a minimum of 500,000 miles in the intended operation design domain with a valid Driverless Testing Permit, which is subject to the same maximum of 400,000 miles outside of California and minimum 100,000 miles inside of California rule.

Data Reporting Requirements For Heavy And Light Duty Autonomous Vehicles

The proposed regulations reshape reporting requirements for both heavy and light duty vehicles. Crash reporting will now mirror reporting under the federal National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Standing Order. This includes monthly reporting on disengagements, vehicle immobilizations, hard braking events, and Dynamic Driving Task Performance Relevant System Failures. (NHTSA also recently announced a new framework for removing regulatory barriers for autonomous vehicles.)

New Rules For Incidents On Public Roads, Police/Emergency Personnel Interactions, And Expanded DMV Enforcement Power

The proposed regulations clarify how the DMV gathers information on incidents involving autonomous vehicles. Featured are a “Preliminary Information Notice” process and a new additional “Request for Information” process whereby manufacturers must provide additional substantive information on an incident to the DMV, upon the DMV’s request, within ten (10) days. Failure to provide this information on time may be a basis for permit suspension, revocation or restriction.

The revisions also refine police reporting of certain observed behavior of autonomous vehicles. Specifically, where an autonomous vehicle is observed exhibiting driving behavior which a police officer reasonably views as a “clear or potential danger or risk of injury to others,” the officer may issue a notice to the manufacturer through an “AV Notice of Noncompliance” process. If the officer marks the review as “priority,” the manufacturer is required to submit notice to the DMV within 24 hours.

Manufacturers are also required to review and update their “First Responder Interaction Plan” more frequently, and provide training to first responders in the areas of operation of the autonomous vehicles.

The proposed regulations notably give broader discretion to the DMV to not only revoke or suspend a permit but to also take more “incremental enforcement measures” against a manufacturer, such as reducing the number of vehicles in an autonomous fleet, limiting the hours of operation, or even controlling locations where the autonomous vehicles are allowed to operate.

For a further understanding of the proposed regulations, please review the DMV’s notice here, and the proposed regulations here.