#california

California is set to issue traffic citations directly to autonomous vehicles that break the law, closing a legal gap that gave driverless cars de facto immunity from traffic enforcement.

California just opened its roads to heavy-duty driverless vehicle programs, a major shift for autonomous freight. The catch is a high testing bar: manufacturers must move from safety-driver to driverless phases and log 500,000 miles for heavy-duty vehicles at each stage before commercial deployment.

California's AB1921 would require a 60-day warning before a digital game loses required online services, then force the operator to offer an offline version, a patch, or a full refund once support ends. Stop Killing Games says it worked with Assemblymember Chris Ward on the draft and explicitly backs the bill.

California's new AB 1043 law requires age verification at account setup for all operating systems, including Linux and SteamOS. OS providers must also supply a real-time age-checking API to app developers, raising major concerns for the gaming and open-source communities.

PC Gamer reports California Assembly Bill 1043, approved in 2025 and effective January 1, 2027, requires operating system providers to collect age input at account setup and provide age-bracket signals to app developers via API.