Q&AZ: Can Waymos get traffic tickets?

Over the last several years, autonomous taxis, such as Waymos, have been expanding into Arizona cities.

Waymo was the first driverless taxi to become available to passengers. Owned by the same parent company as Google, Waymo started testing rides with passengers in Phoenix in 2017.

Since then, Waymo has spread to five cities in the Phoenix metro area as well as Los Angeles and San Francisco. The company has plans to begin service in Florida and Texas this year.

While robotaxis offer an alternative to human drivers, they are not immune to traffic violations.

Arizona

In Arizona, all traffic laws apply to Waymos and robotaxis, including moving violations, registration and insurance. They are required to pull over for emergency vehicles, and local law enforcement can initiate a traffic stop.

“At the Tempe Police Department, we treat Waymo vehicles exactly the same as a vehicle driven by an actual human,” said traffic Detective Jonathan Seal with Tempe police.

Per Arizona law, the operator is responsible for the vehicle and its violations. The operator is required to submit a law enforcement interaction plan before operating on public roads.

During a traffic stop, law enforcement makes contact with a human representative through built-in speakers in the vehicle.

Law enforcement officers can instruct a remote driver to move the vehicle if it's pulled over in an unsafe location. If necessary, police can open the door and manually drive the vehicle.

A citation would be issued to the operating company, which would be responsible for the associated fine. The company also has the right to appeal the citation in court.

“When they commit a moving station, the company serves as the quote, unquote ‘driver of the vehicle,’ and they can be held responsible for any moving violations that that the vehicle commits,” Seal said.

If an autonomous vehicle is involved in an accident, the vehicle will stop, contact police and alert the operator of the situation. If the vehicle committed a traffic violation resulting in the accident, the operator could be cited and could be found liable for damages.

Other states

California currently has no law in effect to cite autonomous vehicles for traffic infractions.

Lieutenant Matt Gutierrez with the California Highway Patrol said under current California law, moving violations cannot be issued to a driverless car because there is no driver to sign for responsibility.

“To issue a moving violation, there has to be somebody to place the safety concern on this,” Gutierrez said. “This is more of a technological issue than it is a driver safety issue.”

New legislation goes into effect on July 1 allowing autonomous vehicle operators to be cited for AV non-compliance.

According to the Miami Police Department, under Florida law, autonomous driving systems are considered the sole operator of the vehicle, and a citation would be issued to the company.