The arrival of self-driving trucks on California highways is reshaping the legal landscape for crash victims, according to Barry P. Goldberg, A Professional Law Corporation, an El Cajon firm that represents people injured by commercial vehicles. Under regulations the California DMV adopted on April 28, companies can test autonomous trucks over 10,001 pounds if they start with a safety driver and log 500,000 miles per phase before driverless operations. Kodiak AI and Aurora have received testing permits, and on September 22, Kodiak began hauling freight between Fresno and Los Angeles. The Teamsters are challenging the rules in Alameda County Superior Court, but the legal questions for crash victims are already here.
"A self-driving truck doesn't change the basic question of who caused the crash. It changes how many companies may share the answer," said Barry P. Goldberg, founder of the firm and a recognized authority on uninsured and underinsured motorist law in California. "The key evidence lives in the truck's software and sensor logs, and the companies on the other side control those records."
In conventional truck crashes, fault can rest with the driver, the trucking company, the cargo loader, or the maintenance shop. Self-driving trucks add two new layers. First, the safety driver: during testing, a human operator must sit behind the wheel, and an operator who fails to take control can share fault with the carrier that employs them. Second, the technology company: when an automated driving system malfunctions, injured people may pursue a product liability claim against the company that designed it.
For East County drivers along Interstate 8 and State Routes 67 and 125, the practical impact is significant. A crash involving an autonomous big rig could involve multiple defendants, from the safety driver and carrier to the software developer and sensor manufacturer. That complexity can delay claims and obscure responsibility unless evidence is preserved quickly.
Goldberg advises injured people to note the company names on the truck and contact a lawyer early, so every company involved receives a letter requiring it to keep its records, including software and sensor logs. Whatever happens with the Teamsters' lawsuit, California law still lets victims pursue every party that contributed to the crash. The firm's truck accident lawyer in El Cajon, CA represents clients across the region.
As autonomous trucking expands, the outcome of legal challenges and the development of case law will shape how quickly victims can recover. For now, the burden falls on injured parties to act fast and secure the data that will determine fault.
