§ 100 Unless the provision or context otherwise requires, these definitions …
§ 102 “Ability to respond in damages” means financial responsibility.
§ 105 An “agricultural water-well boring rig” is a motor vehicle which is …
§ 108 “Airbrakes” means a brake system using compressed air either for …
§ 109 “Alcoholic beverage” includes any liquid or solid material intended …
§ 110 “Alley” is any highway having a roadway not exceeding 25 feet in …
§ 111 (a) “All-terrain vehicle” means a motor vehicle subject to …
§ 111.3 An “all-terrain vehicle safety instructor” is a person who is …
§ 111.5 An “all-terrain vehicle safety training organization” is any …
§ 112 “Amber” has the same meaning as “yellow,” and is within the …
§ 115 An “armored car” is a vehicle that is equipped with materials on …
§ 165 An authorized emergency vehicle is:(a) Any publicly owned and …
§ 165.5 No act or omission of any rescue team operating in conjunction with …
§ 166 An “autobroker” or “auto buying service” is a dealer, as defined in …
§ 175 An “autoette” is a motor vehicle, located on a natural island with an …
§ 210 An “automated enforcement system” is any system operated by a …
§ 220 (a) An “automobile dismantler” is a person not otherwise …
§ 221 (a) The term “automobile dismantler” does not include any of the …
§ 223 Any reference in this code to “automobile driver training” shall be …
§ 225 An “auxiliary dolly” is a vehicle, not designed for carrying persons …
§ 230 An “axle” is a structure or portion of a structure consisting of one …
§ 230.5 A “B-train assembly” is a rigid frame extension attached to the rear …
§ 231 A bicycle is a device upon which a person may ride, propelled …
§ 231.5 A “bicycle path” or “bike path” is a Class I bikeway, as defined in …
§ 231.6 (a) A “bicycle path crossing” is either of the …
§ 232 The “board” is the New Motor Vehicle Board.
§ 232.5 “Brokering” is an arrangement under which a dealer, for a fee or …
§ 233 (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), a “bus” is any …
§ 234 A “business” includes a proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and …
§ 235 A “business district” is that portion of a highway and the property …
§ 236 A “business representative” means a proprietor, a limited or general …
§ 240 In determining whether a highway is within a business or residence …
§ 241 A “buy-here-pay-here” dealer is a dealer, as defined in Section 285, …
§ 241.1 The term “buy-here-pay-here” dealer does not include any of the …
§ 242 A “camp trailer” is a vehicle designed to be used on a highway, …
§ 243 A “camper” is a structure designed to be mounted upon a motor vehicle …
§ 245 A “carry-all” is that type of earth-moving equipment which is not …
§ 246 A “certificate of compliance” for the purposes of this code is an …
§ 250 A “chop shop” is any building, lot, or other premises where any …
§ 255 “City” includes every city and city and county within this State.
§ 257 A “clean fuel vehicle” means any passenger or commercial vehicle or …
§ 259 “Collector motor vehicle” means a motor vehicle owned by a collector, …
§ 260 (a) A “commercial vehicle” is a motor vehicle of a type required …
§ 265 The “commissioner” is the Commissioner of the California Highway …
§ 266 A “consignment” is an arrangement under which a dealer agrees to …
§ 267 A “converter” is a person, other than a vehicle manufacturer, who, …
§ 270 “County” includes every county and city and county within this State.
§ 273 A “crib sheet” or “cribbing device” is any paper or device designed …
§ 275 “Crosswalk” is either:(a) That portion of a roadway included …
§ 280 “Darkness” is any time from one-half hour after sunset to one-half …
§ 285 “Dealer” is a person not otherwise expressly excluded by Section 286 …
§ 286 The term “dealer” does not include any of the …
§ 288 “Declared combined gross weight” equals the total unladen weight of …
§ 289 “Declared gross vehicle weight” means weight that equals the total …
§ 290 “Department” means the Department of Motor Vehicles except, when used …
§ 291 Any reference in this code to the Department of Public Works shall be …
§ 295 The “director” is the Director of Motor Vehicles.
§ 295.5 A “disabled person” is any of the following:(a) Any person who …
§ 295.7 A “disabled veteran” is any person who, as a result of injury or …
§ 296 A “distributor” is any person other than a manufacturer who sells or …
§ 297 A “distributor branch” is an office maintained by a distributor for …
§ 300 A “drawbar” is a rigid structure forming a connection between a …
§ 303 A “driveaway-towaway operation” is any operation in which any motor …
§ 305 A “driver” is a person who drives or is in actual physical control of …
§ 310 A “driver’s license” is a valid license to drive the type of motor …
§ 310.4 A “driving instructor” is, except as provided in Section 11105.5, an …
§ 310.6 A “driving school” is a business which, for compensation, conducts or …
§ 310.8 A “driving school operator” is either a driving school owner who …
§ 311 A “driving school owner” is any person licensed by the department to …
§ 312 The term “drug” means any substance or combination of substances, …
§ 312.5 (a) An “electric bicycle” is a bicycle equipped with fully …
§ 313 The term “electric personal assistive mobility device” or “EPAMD” …
§ 313.5 An “electrically motorized board” is any wheeled device that has a …
§ 314 An “expressway” is a portion of highway that is part of either of the …
§ 315 “Essential parts” are all integral and body parts of a vehicle of a …
§ 320 “Established place of business” is a place actually occupied either …
§ 320.5 An “extralegal load” is a single unit or an assembled item which, due …
§ 321 “Factory-built housing” is a structure as defined in Section 19971 of …
§ 322 (a) A “farm labor vehicle” is any motor vehicle designed, used, …
§ 324 A “fifth-wheel travel trailer” is a vehicle designed for recreational …
§ 324.5 A “former prisoner of war” is any person who, while serving as a …
§ 325 A “foreign jurisdiction” is any other state, the District of …
§ 330 A “foreign vehicle” is a vehicle of a type required to be registered …
§ 331 (a) A “franchise” is a written agreement between two or more …
§ 331.1 A “franchisee” is any person who, pursuant to a franchise, receives …
§ 331.2 A “franchisor” is any person who manufactures, assembles, or …
§ 331.3 A “recreational vehicle franchise” is a written agreement between two …
§ 332 “Freeway” is a highway in respect to which the owners of abutting …
§ 335 A “gantry truck” is a motor vehicle so designed and constructed that …
§ 336 “General public paratransit vehicle” means any motor vehicle designed …
§ 340 A “garage” is a building or other place wherein the business of …
§ 345 A “golf cart” is a motor vehicle having not less than three wheels in …
§ 350 (a) “Gross vehicle weight rating” (GVWR) means the weight …
§ 353 “Hazardous material” is any substance, material, or device posing an …
§ 360 “Highway” is a way or place of whatever nature, publicly maintained …
§ 362 A “house car” is a motor vehicle originally designed, or permanently …
§ 365 An “intersection” is the area embraced within the prolongation of the …
§ 370 A “legal owner” is a person holding a security interest in a vehicle …
§ 371 Lessee includes “bailee” and is a person who leases, offers to lease, …
§ 372 A “lessor” is a person who, for a term exceeding four months, leases …
§ 373 A “lessor-retailer” is a lessor or renter who, except under the …
§ 375 “Lighting equipment” is any of the following lamps or …
§ 377 A “limit line” is a solid white line not less than 12 nor more than …
§ 378 (a) “Limousine” means any sedan or sport utility vehicle, of …
§ 380 “Liquefied petroleum gas” means normal butane, isobutane, propane, or …
§ 385 “Local authorities” means the legislative body of every county or …
§ 385.2 A “logging dolly” is a vehicle designed for carrying logs, having one …
§ 385.3 A “logging vehicle” is a vehicle used exclusively in the conduct of …
§ 385.5 (a) A “low-speed vehicle” is a motor vehicle that meets all of …
§ 386 A “managerial employee” is a person who exercises control over a …
§ 387 “Manufactured home” is a manufactured home, as defined in Section …
§ 389 A “manufacturer branch” is an office maintained by a manufacturer for …
§ 395 A “metal tire” is a tire the surface of which in contact with the …
§ 395.5 A “mobile billboard advertising display” means an advertising display …
§ 396 “Mobilehome” is a structure as defined in Section 18008 of the Health …
§ 400 (a) A “motorcycle” is a motor vehicle having a seat or saddle …
§ 405 A “motor-driven cycle” is any motorcycle with a motor that displaces …
§ 406 (a) A “motorized bicycle” or “moped” is a two-wheeled or …
§ 407 A “motorized quadricycle” is a four-wheeled device, and a “motorized …
§ 407.5 (a) A “motorized scooter” is any two-wheeled device that has …
§ 408 “Motor carrier” is the registered owner, lessee, licensee, or bailee …
§ 410 A “motor truck” or “motortruck” is a motor vehicle designed, used, or …
§ 415 (a) A “motor vehicle” is a vehicle that is …
§ 425 A “muffler” is a device consisting of a series of chambers or baffle …
§ 426 “New motor vehicle dealer” is a dealer, as defined in Section 285, …
§ 430 A “new vehicle” is a vehicle constructed entirely from new parts that …
§ 431 A “nonrepairable vehicle” is a vehicle of a type otherwise subject to …
§ 432 A “nonrepairable vehicle certificate” is a vehicle ownership document …
§ 435 “Nonresident” is a person who is not a resident of this State.
§ 435.5 “Nonresident daily commuter” means a person who is not a resident of …
§ 436 An “off-highway motorcycle” means a motorcycle or motor-driven cycle …
§ 440 An “official traffic control device” is any sign, signal, marking, or …
§ 445 An “official traffic control signal” is any device, whether manually, …
§ 450 An “oil well production service unit” is any vehicle specifically …
§ 455 “Original driver’s license” means the first driver’s license issued a …
§ 460 An “owner” is a person having all the incidents of ownership, …
§ 461 The Senate, Assembly, or any committees thereof, or the Governor’s …
§ 462 A “paratransit vehicle” is a passenger vehicle, other than a bus, …
§ 463 “Park or parking” shall mean the standing of a vehicle, whether …
§ 464 A “passenger transportation vehicle” is any vehicle, including a …
§ 465 A “passenger vehicle” is any motor vehicle, other than a motortruck, …
§ 467 (a) A “pedestrian” is a person who is afoot or who is using any …
§ 467.5 “Pedicab” means any of the following:(a) A bicycle, including an …
§ 468 The department shall commence the “permanent trailer identification …
§ 470 “Person” includes a natural person, firm, copartnership, association, …
§ 471 A “pickup truck” is a motor truck with a manufacturer’s gross vehicle …
§ 472 A “pilot car” is a motor vehicle, except a motorcycle, motorized …
§ 473 (a) A “pocket bike” is a two-wheeled motorized device that has a …
§ 475 A “pole or pipe dolly” is a vehicle, other than a motor vehicle, …
§ 480 A “power brake” is any breaking gear or mechanism that aids in …
§ 485 A “pneumatic tire” is a tire inflated or capable of inflation with …
§ 490 “Private road or driveway” is a way or place in private ownership and …
§ 492 A “private school” is any school, whether conducted for profit or …
§ 500 “Recreational off-highway vehicle” means a motor vehicle meeting all …
§ 505 A “registered owner” is a person registered by the department as the …
§ 505.2 (a) A “registration service” is a person engaged in the business …
§ 506 “Registration year” is the period of time beginning with the date the …
§ 507 The “relevant market area” is any area within a radius of 10 miles …
§ 507.5 A “remanufactured vehicle” is a vehicle that has been constructed by …
§ 507.8 A “remanufacturer” is any person who for commission, money, or other …
§ 508 A “renter” is a person who is engaged in the business of renting, …
§ 510 A “repair shop” is a place where vehicles subject to registration …
§ 512 A “representative” is any person regularly employed by a manufacturer …
§ 515 A “residence district” is that portion of a highway and the property …
§ 516 “Resident” means any person who manifests an intent to live or be …
§ 520 A “retail sale” is a sale of goods to a person for the purpose of …
§ 521 A “retarder” is a device, other than a brake, which, when activated …
§ 521.5 “Revived salvage vehicle” means a total loss salvage vehicle as …
§ 522 “Ridesharing” means two or more persons traveling by any mode, …
§ 525 “Right-of-way” is the privilege of the immediate use of the highway.
§ 527 (a) “Road” means any existing vehicle route established before …
§ 530 A “roadway” is that portion of a highway improved, designed, or …
§ 531 “Utility-terrain vehicle” means a motor vehicle subject to …
§ 535 Safety glazing material is any glazing material so constructed, …
§ 540 A “safety zone” is the area or space lawfully set apart within a …
§ 543 “Salvage pool” means a person engaged exclusively in the business of …
§ 543.5 “Salvage vehicle rebuilder” means any person who rebuilds a total …
§ 544 “Total loss salvage vehicle” means either of the following:(a) A …
§ 545 (a) A “schoolbus” is a motor vehicle designed, used, or …
§ 545.1 (a) Notwithstanding Section 545, a motor vehicle is not a …
§ 545.5 (a) Notwithstanding Section 545, a bus of the type commonly …
§ 546 A “school pupil activity bus” is any motor vehicle, other than a …
§ 550 A “semitrailer” is a vehicle designed for carrying persons or …
§ 553 “Shade trailer” means a device designed and utilized to provide shade …
§ 554 “Shared mobility device” means an electrically motorized board, as …
§ 555 “Sidewalk” is that portion of a highway, other than the roadway, set …
§ 557 A “snowmobile” is a motor vehicle designed to travel over ice or snow …
§ 558 A “snow-tread tire” is a tire which has a relatively deep and …
§ 560 A “solid tire” is a tire of rubber or other resilient material which …
§ 565 “Special construction equipment” is:(a) Any vehicle used …
§ 570 “Special construction equipment” does not include any of the …
§ 575 “Special mobile equipment” is a vehicle, not self-propelled, not …
§ 580 A “specially constructed vehicle” is a vehicle which is built for …
§ 585 A “station wagon” is a dual purpose vehicle designed for the …
§ 587 “Stop or stopping” when prohibited shall mean any cessation of …
§ 590 “Street” is a way or place of whatever nature, publicly maintained …
§ 591 A “street” or “highway” shall not include those portions of a way or …
§ 592 “Highway”, for the purposes of Division 3 (commencing with Section …
§ 593 “Supplemental restraint system” means an automatic passive restraint …
§ 595 “Terminal” is a place where a vehicle of a type listed in Section …
§ 600 A “through highway” is a highway or portion thereof at the entrance …
§ 605 “Tire traction devices” are devices or mechanisms having a …
§ 610 “Tire tread” is that portion of the tire, consisting of the ribs and …
§ 611 A “toll highway” or “toll road” is a publicly owned way or place open …
§ 612 (a) “Tour bus” means a bus, which is operated by or for a …
§ 615 (a) A “tow truck” is a motor vehicle which has been altered or …
§ 617 A “tow dolly” is a vehicle towed by a motor vehicle and designed and …
§ 620 The term “traffic” includes pedestrians, ridden animals, vehicles, …
§ 625 A “traffic officer” is any member of the California Highway Patrol, …
§ 626 A “traffic violator school” is a business that, for compensation, …
§ 626.2 A “traffic violator school branch or classroom location” is any place …
§ 626.4 A “traffic violator school instructor” is any person who provides …
§ 626.6 A “traffic violator school operator” is the person who directs and …
§ 626.8 A “traffic violator school owner” is any natural person, association, …
§ 627 (a) “Engineering and traffic survey,” as used in this code, …
§ 630 A “trailer” is a vehicle designed for carrying persons or property on …
§ 635 A “trailer coach” is a vehicle, other than a motor vehicle, designed …
§ 636 A “trailer bus” is a trailer or semitrailer designed, used, or …
§ 640 A “transferee” is a person who has acquired the sole ownership of or …
§ 642 A “transit bus” is any bus owned or operated by a publicly owned or …
§ 645 (a) A “transporter” is a person engaged in the business of …
§ 650 A “trolley coach” is a vehicle which is propelled by electric power …
§ 655 (a) A “truck tractor” is a motor vehicle designed and used …
§ 657 A “truss” is an assemblage of beams, bars, or rods typically arranged …
§ 660 The “unladen weight” of a vehicle is the weight equipped and ready …
§ 661 Unladen weight shall not include the following machinery, equipment …
§ 665 A “used vehicle” is a vehicle that has been sold, or has been …
§ 665.5 A “U-turn” is the turning of a vehicle upon a highway so as to …
§ 667 (a) A “utility trailer” is a trailer or semitrailer used solely …
§ 668 A “vanpool vehicle” is any motor vehicle, other than a motortruck or …
§ 670 A “vehicle” is a device by which any person or property may be …
§ 670.5 A “vehicle frame” is defined as the main longitudinal structural …
§ 671 (a) A “vehicle identification number” is the motor number, …
§ 672 (a) “Vehicle manufacturer” is any person who produces from raw …
§ 675 (a) “Vehicle salesperson” is a person not otherwise expressly …
§ 675.5 A “vehicle verifier” is a person not expressly excluded by Section …
§ 675.6 (a) “Vehicle verifier” does not include any of the …
§ 676 “Year-round registration” is a system whereby the director designates …
§ 676.5 A “water tender vehicle” is a vehicle designed to carry not less than …
§ 680 (a) A “youth bus” is any bus, other than a schoolbus, designed …
§ 681 (a) “Real ID driver’s license or identification card” means a …

Ask a traffic law question, get an answer ASAP!
Thousands of highly rated, verified traffic lawyers.
Parking violations, accidents, DUI/DWI, licensing, registration, and more
Protect your vehicle and your rights with expert legal help now
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.