California Law Bans OEMs From False Self-Driving Claims

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

There are no fully self-driving cars on the market. That's a simple truth. The Society of Automotive Engineers has determined that there are five levels of autonomous driving, with level five being fully autonomous. As of last year, there were no cars that went beyond Level 2 -- a few potential Level 3 systems were awaiting regulatory approval.


Yet Tesla has labeled its system "Full-Self Driving" and kept the moniker despite a drumbeat of criticism. And while other automakers have avoided doing the same so far, there's nothing stopping them from doing so.

Well, there wasn't. But a new California law set to go into effect after the new year will require automakers to provide a "clear description" of the system, including its limitations.

The law, called SB No. 1398, goes into effect on Sunday. Here's a key passage: "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 actually included in the feature. A violation of this subdivision shall be considered a misleading advertisement for the purposes of Section 11713."

It's unclear what the punishment would be. It's also unclear how it applies based on an OEM's location -- Tesla has moved its HQ to Texas, but still builds some cars in California. Nor is it clear how it would apply to other OEMs that have headquarters elsewhere and have no factories in California.

It does seem to be an obvious shot at Tesla, though, since the company has been using "full-self driving" terminology even when its cars are not full self-driving.

[Image: Tesla]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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 4 comments
  • FreedMike FreedMike on Dec 29, 2022

    If Tesla faces an existential threat, this is it. The whole FSD thing is a potential regulatory disaster, and if the people who were talked into buying this ever hire a class action attorney, the company could face a HUGE payout.


  • Kcflyer Kcflyer on Dec 30, 2022

    California laws always achieve their stated intent so no doubt this will work just as well

    • Pig_Iron Pig_Iron on Jan 01, 2023

      "A dying society collects laws like a dying man collects remedies."

  • Lorenzo Heh. The major powers, military or economic, set up these regulators for the smaller countries - the big guys do what they want, and always have. Are the Chinese that unaware?
  • Lorenzo The original 4-Runner, by its very name, promised something different in the future. What happened?
  • Lorenzo At my age, excitement is dangerous. one thing to note: the older models being displayed are more stylish than their current versions, and the old Subaru Forester looks more utilitarian than the current version. I thought the annual model change was dead.
  • Lorenzo Well, it was never an off-roader, much less a military vehicle, so let the people with too much money play make believe.
  • EBFlex The best gift would have been a huge bonfire of all the fak mustangs in inventory and shutting down the factory that makes them.Heck, nobody would even have to risk life and limb starting the fire, just park em close together and wait for the super environmentally friendly EV fire to commence.
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