- Restrictions on OEMs of autonomous vehicles imposed by bill passed by California lawmakers on 1st January.
- The capabilities and limitations of the vehicles “FSD”.
A recent bill sponsored by Senator Lena Gonzalez has stated that a clear description of the function and limitations of the semi-autonomous feature of vehicles must be given while marketing their vehicles.
The bill was signed by Senator Gavin Newsom in September and came to effect on 1st January 2023. Bill no. 1398 prohibits manufacturers to promote such a feature even though Tesla claims its cars to be Full Self-Driving (FSD). This feature requires active driver supervision and is sold as an additional option for $15000 or $199 per month as per the website.
“A manufacturer or dealer shall not name any partial driving automation feature, or describe any partial driving automation feature in marketing materials, using language that implies or would otherwise lead a reasonable person to believe, that the feature allows the vehicle to function as an autonomous vehicle, as defined in Section 38750, or otherwise has functionality not included in the feature,” the new law reads.
“A violation of this subdivision shall be considered a misleading advertisement for Section 11713,” the new law states.
“(This bill) increases consumer safety by requiring dealers and manufacturers that sell new passenger vehicles equipped with a semiautonomous driving assistance feature… to give a clear description of the functions and limitations of those features,” Ms. Gonzalez said in a statement.
Thus, from the safety and awareness point of view, this new law has made it clear that the dealers mustn’t promote it wrongly, and neither it allows them to glorify the feature.
