Arizona Self-Driving Car Laws (2026): Robotaxis, Tickets, Crashes

Yes, self-driving cars may legally operate in Arizona, including with no one inside, but a fully autonomous vehicle may drive without a human driver only if a person first files two documents with the state: a law enforcement interaction plan and a written statement to the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT). The rules are in Title 28, Chapter 32 of the Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S. 28-9701 to 28-9708). There is no permit to apply for and no approval step, but ADOT can order a company off the road if the filings are missing and can suspend a vehicle's registration for safety reasons.

This page covers Arizona state law on autonomous vehicles. Federal vehicle safety rules apply on top of it; see federal self-driving car laws. For other states, see the self-driving car laws by state hub.

Are self-driving cars legal in Arizona?

Yes, under the conditions set by statute. Section 28-9702(A) says "the operation of autonomous vehicles with or without a human driver is subject to all applicable federal and state laws," except where Chapter 32 provides otherwise. The chapter then sets two paths: operation with a human driver, and operation without one.

The law relies on a few defined terms from A.R.S. 28-101:

• An automated driving system is the hardware and software that are collectively capable of performing the entire dynamic driving task on a sustained basis, even if limited to a specific operational design domain (such as certain roads, speeds or weather).
• An autonomous vehicle is a motor vehicle equipped with an automated driving system.
• A fully autonomous vehicle is an autonomous vehicle whose system is designed to function as a Level 4 or Level 5 system under the SAE J3016 standard. It may be built to drive only by itself, or to allow a human to drive when the system is not engaged.

A driver-assist feature that needs a person to supervise it, such as adaptive cruise control or hands-on lane centering, cannot perform the entire driving task, so it does not meet the definition of an automated driving system. The person at the wheel is still the driver. The levels of driving automation guide explains the difference.

Driving with a human driver aboard

Under Section 28-9702(B), a person may operate an autonomous vehicle with the automated driving system engaged on Arizona's public roads "with a licensed human driver who is able to resume part or all of the dynamic driving task or respond to a request to intervene, if any." This is the path for testing with a safety driver and for cars that expect a person to take over when asked.

Driving with no human driver

Section 28-9702(C) is the core rule for driverless operation. A fully autonomous vehicle "may operate on public roads without a human driver only if a person submits both" of these:

1. A law enforcement interaction plan, filed with ADOT and the Department of Public Safety (DPS). It must be consistent with, and address every element of, the law enforcement protocol DPS issued on May 14, 2018. It must be filed before driverless operation begins (operators already running when the law took effect had 60 days after September 29, 2021).
2. A written statement to ADOT acknowledging four things, covered below.

Only a fully autonomous vehicle, meaning Level 4 or Level 5, may use this path. A car whose system expects a person to take over cannot operate without a human driver under Chapter 32.

What the law enforcement interaction plan must cover

Section 28-9703 requires DPS, working with other law enforcement agencies, to maintain a protocol for fully autonomous vehicles. It must include guidelines on how operators give police and other first responders the information they need to interact with these vehicles "in emergency and traffic enforcement situations, including how to provide contact information for insurance and citation purposes." DPS may revise the protocol after giving advance notice and a chance to comment to the people who have filed written statements.

The DPS protocol dated May 14, 2018 lists what an operator's plan must include:

• How to reach a fleet support specialist who is available while the vehicle operates.
• How to safely remove the vehicle from the roadway.
• How to recognize whether the vehicle is in autonomous mode, and how to tow it safely.
• A description of the cities where the vehicle will operate.
• Any other information the manufacturer considers necessary about hazards or public safety risks.

The written statement to ADOT

Section 28-9702(C)(2) requires the person to acknowledge all of the following in writing:

1. When federal law requires it, the vehicle's automated driving system complies with applicable federal laws and federal motor vehicle safety standards and bears the required certification labels, including a reference to any exemption granted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
2. If the system fails in a way that leaves it unable to perform the entire driving task within its intended operational design domain, the vehicle "will achieve a minimal risk condition," such as bringing itself to a complete stop.
3. The vehicle is capable of complying with Arizona's traffic and motor vehicle safety laws, and the person who submits the statement "may be issued a traffic citation or other applicable penalty if the vehicle fails to comply with traffic or motor vehicle laws."
4. The vehicle meets all applicable title, registration, licensing and insurance requirements of Title 28.

Does Arizona require a permit for self-driving cars?

No. Arizona has no testing permit and no deployment permit for autonomous vehicles. The statute requires a person to submit the plan and statement; it does not require ADOT to approve them. What ADOT does have is enforcement power:

• Cease and desist. If a person fails to submit the plan or statement, ADOT "may immediately issue a cease and desist letter" barring driverless operation until both are filed (28-9702(D)).
• Safety suspension. Section 28-9708 is the exclusive process ADOT may use to suspend, revoke or cancel an autonomous vehicle's registration, or restrict its operation, for safety reasons (other than the cease-and-desist power in 28-9702).
• Only two agencies. ADOT and DPS "are the only state agencies that may implement or enforce" Chapter 32, and neither may prescribe procedures or rules that are "unreasonable or unduly burdensome" (28-9706(C)).

ADOT's website also asks companies that test or operate with a trained safety driver to submit a short form affirming that their vehicles meet federal and state requirements and that the person testing or operating the system may be cited for traffic violations.

How ADOT can pull an unsafe vehicle off the road

The Section 28-9708 process runs in steps:

1. Request for information. If ADOT has evidence that an autonomous vehicle is likely not in safe mechanical condition and likely to endanger people on the highway, it may ask the owner and the person who filed the statement for information. They must respond within a reasonable time ADOT sets, through documents, a meeting, a demonstration or another reasonable form.
2. Notice of intent. If ADOT then determines the vehicle is not in safe mechanical condition and endangers people on the highway, it may send a notice of intent to suspend the registration or restrict operation. The notice must explain ADOT's reasons and evidence and set a deadline to certify a correction, such as adjustments to the driving system or new operational measures.
3. Suspension. If no certification arrives in time, or ADOT finds it untrue or inaccurate, the registration is suspended or operation is restricted as the notice specified. ADOT must lift the suspension or restriction once the required certification is submitted.
4. Hearing and review. A person who disputes ADOT's finding may request a hearing within 10 days after the notice of intent. The hearing must be held within 60 days of the request, and a decision upholding ADOT is subject to judicial review.

This process does not apply to vehicles covered by Arizona's motor carrier safety chapter (Title 28, Chapter 14), and it does not affect federal commercial motor vehicle laws.

Who is the driver of a self-driving car in Arizona?

When it is engaged, the system is. Section 28-9702(E) says the automated driving system "is considered the driver or operator of the autonomous vehicle for the purpose of assessing compliance with applicable traffic or motor vehicle laws." It is also deemed to satisfy electronically all physical acts required of a driver, and it is exempt from Arizona's driver license chapter (Title 28, Chapter 8).

Read this rule for what it says. It decides whose conduct is measured when a car runs a red light or fails to yield. It does not make a passenger the driver, and it does not say who is liable for injuries. Section 28-9702(A) keeps autonomous vehicles subject to all applicable federal and state laws, so a civil claim after a crash still runs through ordinary negligence, product liability and insurance law. See who is liable in a self-driving car accident.

Three related rules round this out:

• No license required. "Notwithstanding any other law, a licensed human driver is not required to operate a fully autonomous vehicle that is operated in compliance with this chapter" (28-9702(F)).
• Traffic laws cannot demand a human. Unless Chapter 32 provides otherwise, no Arizona traffic or motor vehicle law may prohibit the operation of an autonomous vehicle or require a human driver in a compliant fully autonomous vehicle with its system engaged (28-9707).
• Humans may still drive. The chapter does not stop a licensed human driver from driving a fully autonomous vehicle that has controls allowing a person to perform part or all of the driving task (28-9702(G)).

Who gets the ticket when a driverless car breaks the law?

The company or person that filed the written statement. By filing, that person acknowledges it "may be issued a traffic citation or other applicable penalty if the vehicle fails to comply with traffic or motor vehicle laws" (28-9702(C)(2)(c)).

The DPS law enforcement protocol of May 14, 2018, which predates the statute, tells officers how this works on the street. Owner, registration, insurance and contact information for a fully autonomous vehicle is available through ADOT's Motor Vehicle Division system, and citations and repair orders are sent to the email or mailing address on file there. Under the protocol, if a fully autonomous vehicle violates a traffic law and causes a collision, the officer "may issue a citation to the registered owner of the vehicle."

Passengers are not off the hook for everything. Arizona's child restraint and seat belt laws have their own rule for driverless vehicles: the parent or guardian of a child, or another adult accompanying the child, may be cited if a child under five is not secured in a child restraint system in a fully autonomous vehicle operating with its system engaged (A.R.S. 28-907(N)). The same applies to an unbelted passenger under 16 (A.R.S. 28-909).

For how Arizona's approach compares with California, Texas and other states, see can a self-driving car get a ticket.

Robotaxi rules in Arizona

Chapter 32 calls a robotaxi service an "on-demand autonomous vehicle network": a passenger transportation network that uses a digital network or app to connect passengers to fully autonomous vehicles, including for hire and for compensation (28-9701).

Under Section 28-9704, such a network "may operate pursuant to" Arizona's transportation network company law (Title 28, Chapter 30, Article 3, the rules that govern ride-hailing services). Any provision of that law that "by its nature reasonably applies only to a human driver" does not apply to a fully autonomous vehicle operating with its system engaged while logged on to the network.

The ride-hailing law does name robotaxi fleets in one place. A transportation network company must require that a vehicle "owned by an on-demand autonomous vehicle network" meets state vehicle safety and emissions standards for private vehicles and has, at a minimum, an annual brake and tire inspection by a qualified third party (28-9555(A)(4)). For vehicles 10 years old or newer, the statute allows an attestation instead of the inspection, though that option is worded for a transportation network company driver.

Can Phoenix, Tempe or Scottsdale regulate robotaxis?

Largely no. Section 28-9706(A) says a county, city or town "may not impose any tax, fee, for-hire vehicle requirement or other requirement on automated driving systems or autonomous vehicles or on a person who operates an autonomous vehicle." That includes operators providing passenger transportation, freight transportation, goods delivery or an on-demand autonomous vehicle network.

There are two exceptions, both for public airports (28-9706(B)):

• An airport operator may charge reasonable fees for use of airport facilities, consistent with the fees charged to companies providing similar services there.
• An airport may designate locations for staging, pickup and similar operations.

Insurance requirements for self-driving cars in Arizona

Arizona does not set a special insurance amount for autonomous vehicles. A driverless operator's written statement must acknowledge that the vehicle "meets all applicable certificate of title, registration, licensing and insurance requirements of this title" (28-9702(C)(2)(d)), so the ordinary rules apply.

For an owner's policy issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2020, A.R.S. 28-4009 requires at least:

Two exceptions matter for fleets:

• Self-insurance. A person in whose name more than ten motor vehicles are registered may qualify as a self-insurer or partial self-insurer by obtaining a certificate from the ADOT director, who must first determine the person "is financially able and will continue to be able to pay judgments" (A.R.S. 28-4007). A fleet operator that qualifies can meet the requirement this way instead of with an ordinary policy.
• Commercial and ride-hailing coverage. Trucks and other commercial vehicles fall under their own state and federal requirements. Arizona's ride-hailing insurance statute, A.R.S. 28-4038, requires $250,000 per incident while a driver is providing transportation network services, rising to $1,000,000 per incident when a passenger is in the vehicle, but it is written in terms of transportation network company drivers. Chapter 32 does not say how those amounts apply to a vehicle with no driver.

For how other states handle this, see self-driving car insurance.

Driverless trucks in Arizona

Section 28-9705 lets a fully autonomous vehicle that is also a commercial motor vehicle "operate pursuant to state laws governing the operation of commercial motor vehicles," except that any provision that "by its nature reasonably applies only to a human driver" does not apply while the system is engaged. The same filing requirements in 28-9702(C) apply to a driverless truck as to any other fully autonomous vehicle.

Federal trucking rules still apply, and ADOT's safety-suspension process does not displace Arizona's motor carrier safety chapter or federal commercial vehicle law (28-9708(G)). See autonomous truck laws for the federal side and a crash involving one under truck accident law.

How Arizona's self-driving law developed

Arizona began with executive orders and later wrote the rules into statute:

The four acknowledgments in the 2018 order's written statement closely match the ones now in Section 28-9702(C)(2), including the promise that the operator may be cited for violations. The 2021 law also amended the accident-duty statutes, covered next. The session law added the chapter as Chapter 31, sections 28-9601 to 28-9608; the Legislature now publishes the same provisions as Chapter 32, sections 28-9701 to 28-9708 (Chapter 31 is now peer-to-peer car sharing).

Where robotaxis operate in Arizona (as of September 2026)

As of September 2026, Waymo's own Phoenix page says its "Metro Phoenix territory currently includes Downtown Phoenix, Scottsdale, and parts of Tempe, Mesa, and Chandler," and Waymo lists Phoenix among the cities where it is serving riders. Service areas change, so check the operator's current service map.

ADOT does not publish a list of approved operators, because it does not approve them. As of September 2026, its autonomous vehicle page lists companies "who have submitted to test autonomous vehicles in the State of Arizona," including Aurora, Beep, Cruise, Gatik, May Mobility, Nikola, Pony.ai, Nuro, Stack, Tesla, Torc, Waabi and Waymo. Appearing on that list shows a company made a submission, not that it runs a driverless service. For the crash record of the largest fleet, see Waymo robotaxi accidents.

Can you get a DUI in a self-driving car in Arizona?

Chapter 32 does not address intoxication. Arizona's DUI statute, A.R.S. 28-1381, makes it unlawful "to drive or be in actual physical control of a vehicle" while impaired, and the definition of "driver" in 28-101 covers a person who "drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle."

The ADS-as-driver rule in 28-9702(E) is limited to "assessing compliance with applicable traffic or motor vehicle laws," and the statute does not say how it interacts with the DUI law or whether a rider in a driverless vehicle is in actual physical control. The answer likely differs between a passenger in the back of a driverless robotaxi and a person behind the wheel of a car with a feature they are expected to supervise, who remains the driver. See DUI in a self-driving car and Arizona DUI laws.

What to do after a crash with a self-driving car in Arizona

Arizona's accident statutes were amended to cover fully autonomous vehicles operating without a human driver. Your own duties as a driver are unchanged.

1. Stop and help. Every driver in a crash involving injury, death or damage to an attended vehicle must stop at or as close to the scene as possible and stay until the information duties are met (A.R.S. 28-661 and 28-662). Drivers must also render reasonable assistance to anyone injured (28-663). A driverless vehicle meets its duty by stopping at or near the scene and remaining stopped until the information requirements are satisfied.
2. Call police when someone is hurt. A crash that injures or kills someone must be reported immediately to local police, the county sheriff or the highway patrol (28-666). For a driverless vehicle, the owner or a person acting for the owner may give that notice.
3. Get the owner's information. For a driverless vehicle, the information duty is met when the owner, a person acting for the owner, or the vehicle promptly reports the crash to law enforcement, and the owner's name and address and the vehicle's registration number are made available to the person struck or to the occupants of the other vehicle (28-663(B)). Photograph the vehicle, its plate, its markings and any fleet contact number displayed on it.
4. Get the police report. An officer who investigates a crash involving injury, death, property damage over $2,000 or a citation must complete a written report, and a person involved in the crash or their representative can request a copy (A.R.S. 28-667).
5. Preserve the evidence. Ask early that the operator preserve any video and sensor data from the vehicle; a lawyer can send a formal preservation request. See do robotaxis record you.
6. Mind the deadline. Arizona generally allows two years to sue for personal injury and property damage, and a wrongful-death claim accrues at the death (A.R.S. 12-542). Arizona uses comparative negligence: if you share fault, your damages are reduced in proportion to your share, rather than barred (A.R.S. 12-2505).

For the full claim process, see Arizona car accident laws, Arizona statutes of limitations and, where a death occurred, wrongful death.

How Arizona compares with other states

Arizona's model is permissive: no permit, a self-certified filing, a statewide ban on local requirements, and an explicit rule that the filer answers for traffic violations. Texas, by contrast, requires a state authorization before a company carries passengers or property commercially without a human driver; see Texas self-driving car laws. Other state profiles include Colorado. The self-driving car laws by state hub compares every state, and the world self-driving car laws page covers other countries.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are driverless cars legal in Arizona?

Yes, if the vehicle and operator meet Title 28, Chapter 32. A fully autonomous (Level 4 or 5) vehicle may operate without a human driver only if a person has submitted a law enforcement interaction plan to ADOT and the Department of Public Safety and a written statement to ADOT (A.R.S. 28-9702(C)). Any other autonomous vehicle needs a licensed human driver able to take over.

Do you need a permit to operate a self-driving car in Arizona?

No permit is issued. The statute requires the operator to submit the law enforcement interaction plan and written statement, and it does not require ADOT approval. ADOT may issue a cease and desist letter if the filings are missing and may suspend a vehicle's registration for safety reasons through the process in A.R.S. 28-9708.

Who gets a ticket if a Waymo breaks a traffic law in Arizona?

The person who submitted the written statement for the vehicle, typically the operating company, may be issued a traffic citation or other applicable penalty under A.R.S. 28-9702(C)(2)(c). A rider is not the driver for traffic-law purposes, though an adult accompanying a child can be cited if a child under five is not in a child restraint system or a passenger under 16 is unbelted in a driverless vehicle.

Do you need a driver's license to ride in or operate a self-driving car in Arizona?

Not for a fully autonomous vehicle operated in compliance with Chapter 32. Section 28-9702(F) says a licensed human driver is not required, and an engaged system is exempt from the driver license chapter. A car with a driver-assist feature you must supervise still needs a licensed driver at the wheel.

Can Arizona cities ban or tax robotaxis?

A county, city or town may not impose any tax, fee, for-hire vehicle requirement or other requirement on autonomous vehicles or their operators (A.R.S. 28-9706(A)). Public airports may charge reasonable facility fees and designate pickup and staging locations.

How much insurance does a self-driving car need in Arizona?

Arizona sets no AV-specific amount. The vehicle must meet ordinary insurance requirements, which for policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2020 are $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury and $15,000 for property damage. A person with more than ten registered vehicles may instead qualify as a self-insurer with an ADOT certificate.

What happens if a self-driving car hits me in Arizona?

The driverless vehicle must stop at or near the scene, and the owner or someone acting for it must report the crash to police and make the owner's name, address and registration number available to you. Get the police report, photograph the vehicle and keep records. A civil claim runs through ordinary negligence and product liability law, and injury lawsuits generally must be filed within two years.

Is Arizona changing its self-driving car law?

Not as of September 2026. A 2026 bill, SB 1417, would have amended Chapter 32 with new safety and data provisions, but it was held in committee and not enacted. Chapter 32 as published by the Legislature remains the governing law.