Auto Industry Warns California Sales May Halt Without New Bill on Domestic Violence Tech Rules

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation is urging California lawmakers and Governor Gavin Newsom to pass Senate Bill 719 before a July 1 deadline, warning that failure to do so could force a suspension of new and used vehicle sales across the state. The urgency stems from a technically unworkable requirement set to take effect under Senate Bill 1394, a 2024 law designed to prevent perpetrators of domestic violence from using connected vehicle services to track, monitor, or harass survivors.

SB 719, authored by Senator Christopher Cabaldon, would adjust the implementation timeline for certain in-vehicle technologies that automakers say are impossible to comply with by the current deadline.

Without SB 719 becoming law before July 1, there is a substantial risk that auto sales in California will be suspended, said Curt Augustine, senior director of state affairs at the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. Automakers are already implementing the domestic violence victim protections required by SB 1394, but compliance with some elements of the law is impossible this year.

The additional year provided by SB 719 merely aligns implementation with the reality of vehicle design and manufacturing. Augustine noted that the bill is being complicated by last-minute opposition and misinformation from the Consumer Federation of California, a trial lawyer ally, whose misleading attempt to keep this bill from passage should be confirmation that automakers will be vulnerable to frivolous lawsuits for vehicles that cannot meet the current deadline.

SB 719 does not eliminate the protections established by SB 1394. Automakers have already implemented the law's online process, allowing a qualified person to request the termination of another person's access to connected vehicle services.

That protection remains in effect, including the requirement that a completed request be acted upon within two business days. The bill instead revises deadlines for in-vehicle technologies that require extensive engineering, testing, and integration across different makes, models, model years, and vehicle systems.

Under current law, an in-vehicle mechanism to disable location access was required by July 1, 2026, for vehicles manufactured before 2028 that can receive necessary software updates. SB 719 moves that deadline to July 1, 2027, for model year 2027 and older vehicles, unless implementation is technologically infeasible.

For vehicles manufactured on or after January 1, 2028, the requirement shifts to implementation for 2028–2030 model year vehicles as soon as practicable after sale, unless technologically infeasible, and for all vehicles beginning with the 2031 model year.

Vehicle development begins seven to eight years before a particular model reaches the road, making changes involving connected services particularly challenging. Engineering and validation are needed to ensure these changes do not interfere with GPS, theft prevention systems, emergency services, advanced driver assistance systems, or other vehicle functions.

These challenges are especially significant for existing vehicles, as different makes, models, and trim levels use different combinations of hardware and software, and some vehicles cannot receive the required functionality through a software update alone. SB 719 recognizes those technical realities while requiring automakers to implement the protections wherever technologically feasible.

The automotive industry has also supported similar protections at the federal level. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation supports the bipartisan Safe Vehicle Access for Survivors Act, introduced by Representatives.

SB 719 is currently pending before the Assembly Appropriations Committee and must pass both the full Assembly and Senate on concurrence, and be signed into law by Governor Newsom before July 1.