On September 27, 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill No. 1777 into law, marking a significant milestone in autonomous vehicle regulations. Recognizing the state's pivotal role in autonomous vehicle (AV) innovation, California introduced this bill to remain at the forefront of these evolving regulations. This new legislation requires manufacturers of AVs that operate without a human operator physically present to comply with specific requirements, such as maintaining a dedicated emergency response telephone line and equipping each AV with a two-way voice communication device.

The law also mandates emergency response officials to issue geofencing messages to AV manufacturers, who must then direct their fleets to vacate or avoid the designated area within two minutes of receiving the message. This move aims to enhance road safety and ensure that AVs can navigate and share the road more intelligently and safely with first responders.

How HAAS Alert Enhances AV Safety

Earlier this year, HAAS Alert launched its Responder-to-Autonomous Vehicle (R2AV™) product to ensure compliance with these new regulations. R2AV enables automated vehicle manufacturers to incorporate real-time emergency vehicle and incident data into their remote operations and vehicle driving systems, ultimately allowing AVs to navigate and share the road more intelligently and safely with first responders.

"California's new regulations are a game-changer for the autonomous vehicle industry," said HAAS Alert CEO Cory Hohs. "By integrating real-time data and communication, we can significantly reduce the risk of collisions and improve overall roadway safety."

R2AV builds on HAAS Alert’s existing Responder-to-Vehicle (R2V®) product, which public safety agencies use to connect their emergency vehicles to Safety Cloud® for real-time digital alerting. This technology improves situational awareness, reduces response times, and facilitates mutual aid with neighboring fire, police, and ambulance services.

With these new regulations, HAAS Alert is positioned to play a crucial role in the safe deployment of autonomous vehicles. The R2AV product provides cloud-hosted, ground-truth roadway data that helps AVs detect and avoid interactions with emergency vehicles and other unplanned incidents. This advancement ensures that AVs can operate safely alongside first responders, enhancing overall road safety.