Autonomous vehicles under testing permits have collectively covered more than four million miles on California’s public roads over the past year, the California Department of Motor Vehicles has announced.
The figure is a significant decrease from the over nine million miles reported in the previous period.
From December 1, 2023, to November 30, 2024, 4,498,066 miles, including 3,945,171 miles with a safety driver and 552,895 miles in fully autonomous mode were logged.
The annual disengagement reports, details instances where human drivers had to take over control due to technology failures or safety concerns.
The reports also outline the testing circumstances, locations and the specific conditions under which disengagements occurred and are intended to provide insights into the operational activities of each permit holder.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles said of the companies with testing permits, 20 did not conduct any public road testing this period. Additionally, nine companies, while submitting reports for the 2023-2024 reporting period, have ceased testing and withdrawn from the program.
Under state regulations, companies are only required to report public road testing.
Currently, 31 companies hold permits for testing with a safety driver, six are approved for driverless testing and three are authorized to make autonomous technology commercially available outside of a testing program.
