San Bruno police, a Californian city, He stopped a Waymo Robotaxi after making a prohibited turn at a traffic lightbut he had to let him go without sanction: the Californian law does not contemplate fine vehicles without driver.
Why is it important. This episode has revealed a legal vacuum that may seem anecdotal now – a simple illegal turn – but that raises a much more serious issue: who responds to a deadly accident caused by an autonomous car?
The context. California allows the circulation of autonomous vehicles for years, but its traffic code has not been updated so fast. Circulation fines require identifying a responsible driver. If there is no driver, there is no possible sanction.
- The agents contacted Alphabet, the Waymo matrix, but could not issue any citation.
- “Our fine forms do not have a” robot ‘box “, the police department has recognized in Your Facebook profile.
- He has said that he is “preparing legislation that will allow agents to issue notices to the company.” It is expected that Between in force in July 2026.
Between the lines. The problem is not technical but political and judicial. Technology companies have deployed their robotaxis fleets faster than legislators have been able to adapt the laws. And that gap not only generates absurd situations such as this, but it leaves citizens unprotected against serious accidents.
The big question. If a waymo mortally runs over a pedestrian, who is going to trial? The algorithm? The engineer who scheduled it? The CEO of the company? For now, nobody has an answer.
However, we must distinguish between criminal responsibility – who goes to jail – and civil liability:
- In the event of a deadly outrage, the victim’s family would not face a no legal exit. His demand would have a perfectly identified recipient: the company, Waymo, as the final head of the vehicle.
- The objective in that trial would not be a prison sentence, but a millionaire compensation for the damages caused, based on established concepts such as the responsibility for defective product or business negligence.
The real vacuum is not if someone would pay for the damage, but how to adapt a criminal code designed for humans to the autonomous decisions of a machine.
In perspective. This legal vacuum is not exclusive to California. As autonomous vehicles extend around the world, the legal systems of dozens of countries will have to solve the same dilemma: how to sanction machines that cannot declare, cannot be imprisoned and technically have no will.
Outstanding image | San Bruno Police Department
In Xataka | I have tried a totally autonomous taxi. This is traveling without driver
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