Vehicle Code, 1959

A farm labor vehicle may be forfeited as a nuisance if it is driven on a highway in violation of listed sections and has been impounded a second or subsequent time. The registered or legal owner of record may request a hearing on the impoundment, and if repairs were completed and the vehicle complied with the law at impoundment, the agency that employed the impounding person must pay towing and storage costs.

Certain vehicles must prominently display a distinctive identifying symbol.

Certain motor carriers must get a carrier identification number, keep application and DOT-number information accurate, and display the number on covered vehicles unless an exception applies.

Certain bus operators must get a carrier identification number from the California Highway Patrol and display it on the bus, with specific display rules and removal before the bus is sold or otherwise disposed of.

The Department of the California Highway Patrol must adopt and enforce rules for schoolbuses.

Most vanpool vehicles covered here are exempt from Section 34501 regulations, but they must still carry specified safety equipment, be maintained and inspected on a schedule, keep records, and display a vanpool sign.

Operators transporting hazardous material must carry required shipping papers in the vehicle while en route and show the bill of lading or other shipping paper when asked by an authorized officer.

A broker of construction trucking services must have a at least $15,000 surety bond before providing construction transportation services, and must give or post proof of the bond and update that proof if the bond is cancelled or expires.

The department cannot ask for civil enforcement, and the Attorney General cannot bring the action, unless the charged person fails to correct the violation after two written notices over 60 days. A requested departmental hearing and approval by the Highway Patrol Commissioner are required before the request is forwarded.

The department must adopt rules and regulations for the equipment and maintenance of tour buses.

The department must conduct additional roadside vehicle safety inspections of certain vehicles, starting in the 1990–91 fiscal year, if the Legislature appropriates the needed funds.

This section defines “maintenance facility or terminal” and a special meaning of “terminal” for inspections, and says the section becomes operative on January 1, 2016.

People may not use certain motor vehicles to transport food if those vehicles were used to carry landfill-bound solid waste, unless subdivision (c) allows it.

A person may not drive a commercial motor vehicle from another country outside a designated commercial zone unless the required federal operating authority has been obtained.

Certain motor carriers must not operate in California without the required federal certificate, registration, or operating authority, and some must follow specific inspection rules.

Motor carriers, drivers, transit agencies, and certain testing consortia must follow specified federal drug and alcohol testing rules, provide records on request, send positive-test summaries within 3 days in some cases, and observe pre-duty and employment-history checks.

School districts or county offices of education that employ drivers for school transportation vehicles, and those drivers, must join a drug- and alcohol-testing program consistent with specified federal requirements unless they already have to participate in another U.S. Secretary of Transportation testing program.

Employers of paratransit drivers, and the drivers themselves if not already covered by a U.S. DOT testing program, must follow a controlled-substances and alcohol testing program, and employers must also join the pull notice system.

This division may be cited as the Motor Carriers of Property Permit Act.

This section defines key terms for motor carriers of property, for-hire motor carriers, commercial motor vehicles, and private carriers.

This section defines “fund” to mean the Motor Vehicle Account in the State Transportation Fund.

On request, specified California agencies must provide records information needed to help the department develop and enforce this division.

The department may adopt reasonable rules and regulations to administer this division, and may also adopt rules for civil sanction proceedings and impose fines for noncompliance with related provisions.

The department may contract with specified agencies to administer proceedings or this division, and collected fees must be deposited into the Motor Vehicle Account in the State Transportation Fund.

Motor carriers of property generally may not operate, contract, retrieve, or release vehicles without the required permit and related certification or permit copies.

Motor carrier permit applicants must pay the required fee and include specified information in the application. A motor carrier of property may keep operating for up to 30 days after permit expiration if renewal was filed before expiration and other stated conditions are met.

This chapter does not apply to certain vehicles and to a household mover carrying used office, store, or institution furniture and fixtures under a household mover permit.

This section gives the California Highway Patrol exclusive safety-regulation authority over motor carriers of property and allows or requires permit suspension for several safety and compliance failures.

A licensee’s motor carrier permit may be suspended if the licensee is on a certified tax delinquency list.

A permit may not be reissued after a suspension ends unless a $150 fee is paid to the department, except where other sections provide otherwise.

The department must create an owner-operator motor carrier classification, suspend the related permit after a driving-privilege suspension or revocation unless good cause is shown within 15 days, and require covered motor carriers to notify contracting carriers when they no longer fit the classification.

A motor carrier of property cannot get a permit until proof of financial responsibility is filed with the department, and that proof must stay in effect while the permit is active.

A motor carrier permit applicant must file proof of financial responsibility with the department for each vehicle covered by the permit, using one of the listed forms.

Motor carriers of property must maintain specified liability insurance or equivalent protection, with higher limits for certain vehicle types and hazardous cargo.

Motor carriers of property must file an annual sworn vehicle list with the department, and the department must suspend the permit if the insurer reports a lack of insurance coverage for a reported vehicle.

Motor carriers of property with 20 or more commercial motor vehicles must file an annual sworn report with the department.

The department must review a carrier’s permit if it gets a stop order, may suspend or revoke the permit in specified cases, and must give notice and a hearing opportunity before revocation in one scenario.

A motor carrier of property cannot get a permit until required workers’ compensation proof is filed with the department.

A motor carrier of property whose permit has been suspended must not keep operating; violations can be a misdemeanor with fines, jail time, or both.

A person or corporation that violates this division commits a misdemeanor and may be fined up to $2,500, jailed up to three months, or both.

Violations tied to motor carrier permit rules trigger mandatory sanctions, including permit suspensions and, in some cases, a $1,500 fine.

A suspended or revoked motor carrier permit cannot be reinstated until the $150 fee is paid and the permit holder has met all permit-issuance requirements, subject to stated exceptions.

If a motor carrier permit is paid for with a dishonored check, the permit must be canceled unless the applicant makes restitution and pays the dishonored-check fee within 30 days after notice.

This section says Division 14.86 may be cited as the Private Carriers of Passengers Registration Act.

This section defines “private carrier” for this division and excludes certain rental-car and lodging operators from that definition.

The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration must provide requested records information to help enforce this division.

Private carriers of passengers generally may not operate on public highways unless their operation is registered with the department.

Private carriers of passengers must pay a $35 filing fee for initial registration and a $30 annual renewal fee to the department.

The Highway Patrol must tell private passenger carriers about this division and registration requirements, and it must send carrier lists to the department at least quarterly; the department must then notify carriers about registration rules and penalties for not registering.

California and its agencies and political subdivisions do not have to comply with this division’s registration requirements.

A private carrier of passengers cannot get registration until proof of financial responsibility is filed. The department may accept only certain insurance certificates or a surety bond, certificates stay valid until canceled, and registration must be suspended if coverage lapses or ends.

A private carrier of passengers must display the carrier identification number on vehicles covered by the registration, following Section 34507.5.

The department must send the California Highway Patrol a quarterly list of carriers that got a carrier identification number but have not registered. The Highway Patrol may use that list for enforcement and as prima facie evidence of failure to register.

If a person or corporation violates any provision of this division, the violation is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine, jail time, or both; in some cases it is treated as an infraction.

This section lets the department suspend a private carrier of passengers’ registration for safety or pull-notice violations, and sets notice, hearing, reinstatement, and reinspection steps.

Certain passenger carriers must keep specified liability insurance in force on each vehicle, with higher minimum coverages for youth-camp transportation vehicles.

This division becomes operative on July 1, 2018.

This section says Division 14.9 may be cited as the Greene-Harmer Motor Vehicle Damage Control Act.

This section defines “passenger vehicle” for this division and lists several vehicle types that are excluded from that definition.

A new passenger vehicle may not be sold or registered on and after September 1, 1973 unless it has a manufacturer’s warranty for an appropriate energy-absorption system meeting NHTSA requirements, with an exception for vehicles certified by the manufacturer as built before that date.

The Attorney General may bring a civil action to stop violations of this division, but only on request from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

This section defines GVWR and GCWR, including a fallback method for calculating GCWR when the manufacturer has not specified a weight.

This division applies only to vehicle size, vehicle weight, and loads on vehicles when they are operated on highways.

This division does not apply to motor trucks equipped with snow removal devices, except for provisions that require a permit for overweight loads.

This section limits when certain emergency vehicles and fire apparatus are covered, and sets permit, equipment, certification, and liability rules for specified vehicles.

Certain booms, masts, machinery, and similar equipment are treated as a load for this division.

Vehicles and their loads generally must not be more than 102 inches wide; cities and counties may adopt ordinances banning vehicle combinations wider than 96 inches on highways under their jurisdiction.

For Section 35100, 102 inches (2.6 meters) meets the width requirement, and vehicles with side walls must be measured from the outside wall on both opposite sides.

Cotton module movers on highways, and their load, must not be wider than 130 inches.

Vehicles with pneumatic tires must stay within stated width limits, and the California Highway Patrol must test certain wider vehicles for dynamic stability.

A vehicle carrying loosely piled agricultural products must keep the load and any retaining racks within 120 inches in width.

Recreational vehicles may exceed the Section 35100 width limit if the extra width comes from an appurtenance that stays within six inches beyond either sidewall; an appurtenance may not be used to carry load.

Some listed vehicles are exempt from the width limits, but they still cannot be wider than 120 inches.

A city organized under a freeholders’ charter may, by ordinance, allow a vehicle and load to exceed the stated outside-width limits if the vehicle is used only within the city.

Motor coaches and buses may be up to 102 inches wide, with limited 104-inch exceptions for certain urban or suburban operations.

This section defines “urban and suburban service” and limits it to routes of 50 miles or less one-way; certain designated motor coach routes between 25 and 50 miles one-way also need Department of Transportation approval.

Required vehicle-mounted lights, mirrors, or devices may extend beyond the vehicle’s width, but only up to 10 inches on each side.

Certain vehicle parts and tarping-system components may extend up to three inches on each side of the vehicle, and some tarping-system structures may be up to 108 inches wide if centered and meeting the stated conditions.

A passenger vehicle must not be operated on a highway if its load extends past the left fender line or more than 6 inches past the right fender line.

Vehicles and loads generally may not exceed 14 feet in height; double-deck buses have a 14 feet 3 inches limit, and anything over 13 feet 6 inches may only be operated on highways the owner or bus operator deems safe.

A hydraulic boom or mast attached to a vehicle or machine must be secured or restrained when it is transported as a load or driven on a highway, unless its design already effectively restrains its movement.

Pilot cars may use a vertical clearance measuring device for permitted overheight loads, but the device must be safely attached and operated; the operator must not slow more than 20 mph below the speed limit or leave the vehicle to measure clearance.

This section defines “hazardous material” for Vehicle Code purposes.

Vehicles are generally limited to 40 feet in length, with specific exceptions for certain buses, house cars, semitrailers, safety bumpers, bicycle racks, and schoolbus equipment.

Section 35400.5 exempts certain cotton-module-mover motortrucks from Section 35400(a) if they are used solely for that purpose and do not exceed 48 feet in length.

Certain fifth-wheel travel trailers are exempt from Section 35400(a) if they stay within stated length limits, and the manufacturer must provide registration information in the delivery documents.

The district may install a front-mounted folding bicycle device on a bus if size and safety conditions are met, and it must set up a route review committee and file a report.

The authority may run articulated buses up to 82 feet on the Orange Line and related terminal and maintenance routes, but must set up a route review committee before operating any bus over 60 feet.

The Sacramento Regional Transit District may install a front-mounted folding bicycle device on certain buses if size and safety conditions are met, and it must set up a route review committee and later report to the Legislature.

GCT may install a front-mounted folding bicycle device on a bus only if specific size and safety conditions are met, and it must set up a route review committee and file a report if the device is installed.

This section limits how long certain vehicle combinations may be, with exceptions for some tow-truck situations and authority for cities, counties, and the Department of Transportation to impose or manage local highway limits and signage.

Certain vehicle combinations may be operated on local-authority highways if the axle measurement is over 38 feet but not more than 40 feet, the operator or owner deems it safe, and no local ordinance specifically forbids it.

Certain motortruck and stinger-steered semitrailer combinations transporting motor vehicles, camper units, or boats may operate up to 70 feet or 75 feet if specific axle and kingpin distance conditions are met.

This section exempts certain truck tractor–semitrailer combinations from some vehicle length limits if specified size and route conditions are met, and it sets special rules for terminal access and motorsports permits.

Licensed carriers of livestock get a limited exemption from certain access restrictions on part of State Highway Route 101, if listed size and timing conditions are met.

A driveaway-towaway combination must not be longer than 97 feet when carrying up to three saddle-mounted vehicles and one full-mounted vehicle.

This section tells how to measure vehicle length and sets exceptions for certain extensions, drawbars, and sliding devices.

Safety devices required by the code may extend past a vehicle’s permissible length by up to 10 inches.

Certain large counties may adopt an ordinance restricting highway or lane use for oversized vehicles, but only if specific population, island-area, and supervisor-resolution conditions are met.

An aerodynamic device extending up to five feet behind a vehicle is not counted in the vehicle’s length if it is strong enough not to harm a rear-impacting vehicle or passenger, and it does not block required lamps or safety markings.

Loads on a single vehicle, or on the front vehicle of a combination, generally cannot extend more than 3 feet beyond the front tires or front bumper; if the load is made only of vehicles, the front vehicle may extend up to 4 feet.

Section 35406 does not apply to certain booms or masts on motor vehicles if specified size, securing, clearance, and visibility conditions are met.

This section exempts certain booms or masts on older self-propelled heel-boom log loaders from Section 35406 and parts of Section 35407 if specific safety conditions are met.

A front bumper on a motor vehicle must not be built or installed so it extends more than two feet in front of the vehicle’s foremost front point.

Certain motor vehicles may carry a forward-extending platform or device, up to five feet, when used for filming or teaching safe driving. Devices used solely for teaching safe driving must be of a type authorized by the CHP and DMV.

A load on a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer may not extend rearward beyond the last point of support by more than two-thirds of the vehicle’s wheelbase.

A vehicle combination’s load generally must not exceed 75 feet, unless subdivision (b) applies; certain combinations operating under Sections 35401 or 35401.5 must keep the load within the vehicles’ exterior dimensions when the overall combination is longer than 75 feet.

This section says certain long loads may be moved without the chapter’s vehicle-length limits applying, if the listed transport methods and conditions are met.

Vehicles may not exceed the axle and wheel weight limits stated here, with a livestock-load exception for one wheel-end limit.

This section sets maximum gross weight limits for groups of two or more consecutive axles, with specific tables and special rules for tandem axle sets.

Vehicles in combinations with a trailer or semitrailer must follow this section’s axle and group weight limits, unless an exception applies.

This section gives special weight rules for log trucks and log vehicle combinations.

This section says the article does not apply to vehicles near a loading or unloading area while they are actually loading or unloading, if any overload is incidental and necessary, and not on a bridge or highway structure. It also does not apply to highways in the national interstate and defense system.

This section sets axle weight limits for buses and transit buses and requires articulated transit bus operators to give route notice to cities and counties.

Cotton module movers get a seasonal weight-limit exception and may operate on specified highways if licensing, compliance, and weight conditions are met.

Vehicle weight certificates and related records can be inspected by district attorneys only if requested and approved under the Director of Food and Agriculture’s regulations; records issued before January 1, 1984, may not be inspected or admitted in proceedings.

A person or business with an axle weight scale at its loading facility must weigh a load, if the driver asks, before the vehicle leaves; in a port facility, this applies only when the scale is in outbound lanes.

Certain near-zero-emission and zero-emission vehicle power units may exceed gross weight limits by up to 2,000 pounds, but the total gross vehicle weight may not exceed 82,000 pounds.

This section explains that some intermodal container trailers are being loaded overweight and says California should have a program to weigh them at major terminals before they go on highways.

The Department of Transportation must develop a plan for intermodal weighing facilities and submit it to the Legislature by August 1, 1989. It may also make agreements to allow short-distance movement to those facilities without weight restrictions.

A vehicle’s gross weight on a solid tire must not exceed 600 pounds for each inch of the tire’s channel base width.

Vehicles on metal tires must not exceed 500 pounds per inch of tire width when on the roadway, with an exception for certain traction engines or tractors using movable tracks with plane surfaces.

The Department of Transportation may set a higher highway weight limit after an engineering investigation shows the highway can safely carry heavier vehicles and loads.

The Department of Transportation may set the maximum weight a state highway can sustain, after a public hearing, if the highway cannot safely support the code’s maximum weights.

The Department of Transportation must give public notice of the hearing and hold it at the county seat of the affected county or another convenient place.

Engineers appointed by the Director of Transportation must conduct the hearing, hear the evidence, and report written findings; the Director must then set the maximum safe highway weight in writing, and it cannot be below 16,000 pounds.

After maximum weight is declared under this article, the Department of Transportation must put up warning signs at both ends of the affected highway section and at any other locations it considers necessary.

A person may not drive a vehicle on a state highway if the vehicle and load are heavier than the highway’s maximum weight limit.

Vehicles described in Sections 410 and 655 with a gross weight of 9,000 pounds or more may not be operated on the I-580 segment between Grand Avenue in Oakland and the city limits of San Leandro, except passenger buses and paratransit vehicles.

Most commercial vehicles with 3+ axles or a gross weight of 9,000 pounds or more may not drive on the specified SR-2 segment, unless an exception applies.

County and city legislative bodies may, by ordinance, allow heavier vehicles and loads on highways within their jurisdiction, but not on state highways.

The Department of Transportation may issue a special permit for certain overweight vehicles on specified corridors if stated route, weight, and axle requirements are met.

The Department of Transportation may issue a special permit for certain vehicles moving intermodal cargo containers on a specified route in Oakland if several weight, route, and timing conditions are met.

Cities, or counties for residence districts, may adopt ordinances restricting certain vehicles on streets, but the ordinance has no effect until appropriate signs are posted.

A local ordinance under Section 35701 does not take effect for covered highways unless the local authority has exclusive jurisdiction or, for a state highway, the ordinance is submitted to and approved in writing by the Department of Transportation.

An ordinance adopted under Section 35701 cannot stop certain commercial vehicles from using a direct route to a restricted street for necessary pickups, deliveries, or construction-related deliveries.

An ordinance reducing weight limits under Section 35701 does not apply to vehicles owned by a public utility or licensed contractor when they are necessarily being used to construct, install, or repair a public utility.

Section 35701 does not apply to certain city streets unless the city’s legislative body, after notice and hearing, decides to reduce the weight limits.

County boards of supervisors may, by ordinance, lower the permitted weight of vehicles and loads on unimproved county highways or county bridges.

County boards of supervisors may lower weight limits on certain improved highways by ordinance, but only when deterioration would otherwise destroy the highway.

If someone files a written protest within 15 days after an ordinance lowers permissible gross weight on an improved highway, the reduction does not become final unless the Department of Transportation approves it after a hearing.

A hearing on the reduction must be held in the county where the highway is located within 25 days after a request, with designated Transportation Department engineers conducting it and the director issuing a written approval or disapproval based on their findings.

When a different vehicle weight limit is set under specified sections, the board of supervisors must put up signs at all highway entrances showing the new weight.

An ordinance made under certain sections may not bar commercial vehicles from using a county highway directly to or from a state highway when delivering or loading goods for transport.

Counties may, by ordinance, ban commercial vehicles over certain gross-weight limits from highways in unincorporated residential or subdivision areas.

An ordinance closing a highway under certain sections is not effective until notice signs are erected, and it is also ineffective for any county highway unless the board of supervisors designates an alternate route for unrestricted vehicles.

An ordinance adopted under Section 35712 does not apply to several listed vehicle, highway, and operational situations unless the stated consent or approval requirements are met.

The County of Nevada may adopt an ordinance banning certain commercial vehicles over a specified gross weight from using Northwoods Boulevard.

Tuolumne County may ban vehicles over a specified weight from using Old Priest Grade, but the ordinance must set the weight limit and several categories of travel are exempt.

A city ordinance lowering weight limits does not apply to certain contractor or highway carrier vehicles used for public works projects, unless the city provides an alternate direct route.

A county may adopt an ordinance banning commercial vehicles over 14,000 pounds from streets, roads, or highways that cannot support them under accepted engineering standards.

An ordinance adopted under Section 35717 is not effective until appropriate signs are posted.

An ordinance under Section 35717 does not take effect for certain connecting roads or highways unless each affected county’s board of supervisors acts together to prohibit use under this section.

Local ordinances adopted under Section 35717 do not apply to several listed vehicles, roads, and uses, and state highway restrictions need written Department of Transportation approval.

An ordinance under Section 35717 may be adopted only after notice and a hearing, including public notice, a 60-day waiting period, and an opportunity for objections to be heard.

Santa Clara County may adopt a proposed ordinance setting a 9,000-pound maximum gross truck weight limit for Route 85, but only before freeway agreements are executed, with city concurrence, after a public hearing, and subject to Transportation Department approval.