New California law targets OEMs of autonomous vehicles

California lawmakers have passed a bill prohibiting OEMs of autonomous vehicles from marketing their vehicles as ‘fully self-driving.’ This law went into effect Jan. 1.

This legislation was passed in mid-September of 2022 and states that manufacturers are prohibited from selling new passenger vehicles with autonomous driving features without fully disclosing their capabilities and limitations. Companies such as Tesla, and other OEMs in California, will no longer be able to market vehicles as ‘fully autonomous,’ as the new bill states that it is “considered a misleading advertisement.”

Any violation of the new legislation will be punished as an infraction. Based on this, it is unclear what the exact punishment will be for OEMs that violate this policy.

Senate Bill No. 1398 will be added to Section 24011.5 of California’s vehicle code. The full bill can be found here.