Veh. Code, § 14601 · Chapter 4. Violation of License Provisions
Veh. Code, § 14601
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) No person shall drive a motor vehicle at any time when that person’s driving privilege is suspended or revoked for reckless driving in violation of Section 23103, 23104, or 23105, any reason listed in subdivision (a) or (c) of Section 12806 authorizing the department to refuse to issue a license, negligent or incompetent operation of a motor vehicle as prescribed in subdivision (e) of Section 12809, or negligent operation as prescribed in Section 12810.5, if the person so driving has knowledge of the suspension or revocation. Knowledge shall be conclusively presumed if mailed notice has been given by the department to the person pursuant to Section 13106. The presumption established by this subdivision is a presumption affecting the burden of proof.
(b) A person convicted under this section shall be punished as follows:
(1) Upon a first conviction, by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than five days or more than six months and by a fine of not less than three hundred dollars ($300) or more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(2) If the offense occurred within five years of a prior offense that resulted in a conviction of a violation of this section or Section 14601.1, 14601.2, or 14601.5, by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 10 days or more than one year and by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) or more than two thousand dollars ($2,000).
(c) If the offense occurred within five years of a prior offense that resulted in a conviction of a violation of this section or Section 14601.1, 14601.2, or 14601.5, and is granted probation, the court shall impose as a condition of probation that the person be confined in a county jail for at least 10 days.
(d) Nothing in this section prohibits a person from driving a motor vehicle, that is owned or utilized by the person’s employer, during the course of employment on private property that is owned or utilized by the employer, except an offstreet parking facility as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 12500.
(e) When the prosecution agrees to a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to a charge of a violation of this section in satisfaction of, or as a substitute for, an original charge of a violation of Section 14601.2, and the court accepts that plea, except, in the interest of justice, when the court finds it would be inappropriate, the court shall, pursuant to Section 23575, require the person convicted, in addition to any other requirements, to install a certified ignition interlock device on any vehicle that the person owns or operates for a period not to exceed three years.
(f) This section also applies to the operation of an off-highway motor vehicle on those lands to which the Chappie-Z’berg Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Law of 1971 (Division 16.5 (commencing with Section 38000)) applies as to off-highway motor vehicles, as described in Section 38001.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2007, Ch. 682, Sec. 14. Effective January 1, 2008.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH§ionNum=14601.
- Text hash
- sha256 b616c1b3450a5fd7d5206814ea180030ca3780f5f3776ef84cc9207581c8e87b
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Vehicle Code
- Veh. Code, § 12500Printed as Section 12500
- Veh. Code, § 12806Printed as Section 12806
- Veh. Code, § 12809Printed as Section 12809
- Veh. Code, § 12810.5Printed as Section 12810.5
- Veh. Code, § 13106Printed as Section 13106
- Veh. Code, § 14601.1Printed as Section 14601.1, 14601.2, or 14601.5
- Veh. Code, § 14601.2Printed as Section 14601.1, 14601.2, or 14601.5 | Section 14601.2
- Veh. Code, § 14601.5Printed as Section 14601.1, 14601.2, or 14601.5
- Veh. Code, § 23103Printed as Section 23103, 23104, or 23105
- Veh. Code, § 23104Printed as Section 23103, 23104, or 23105
- Veh. Code, § 23105Printed as Section 23103, 23104, or 23105
- Veh. Code, § 23575Printed as Section 23575
- Veh. Code, div. 16.5OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLESPrinted as Division 16.5 (commencing with Section 38000)
- Veh. Code, § 38001Printed as Section 38001
Cited by 17 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Veh. Code, § 14601. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Vehicle Code
- Veh. Code, § 12810Printed as Section 14601, 14601.1, 14601.2, 14601.3, or 14601.5
- Veh. Code, § 13552Printed as Section 14601 or 14601.1
- Veh. Code, § 14601.1Printed as Section 14601, 14601.2, or 14601.5
- Veh. Code, § 14601.2Printed as Section 14601, 14601.1, or 14601.5
- Veh. Code, § 14601.5Printed as Section 14601, 14601.1, 14601.2, or 14601.3
- Veh. Code, § 14601.8Printed as Section 14601 or 14601.1
- Veh. Code, § 14607.6Printed as Section 14601, 14601.1, 14601.2, 14601.3, 14601.4, or 14601.5
- Veh. Code, § 14607.8Printed as Section 14601, 14601.1, 14601.2, 14601.3, 14601.4, or 14601.5
- Veh. Code, § 22651Printed as Section 12500, 14601, 14601.1, 14601.2, 14601.3, 14601.4, 14601.5, or 14604
- Veh. Code, § 23597Printed as Section 14601, 14601.1, 14601.2, 14601.4, or 14601.5
- Veh. Code, § 23624Printed as Section 14601, 14601.2, 23152, or 23153
- Veh. Code, § 40000.11Printed as Sections 14601, 14601.1, 14601.2, and 14601.5
- Veh. Code, § 40303Printed as Section 14601, 14601.1, 14601.2, or 14601.5
- Veh. Code, § 41403Printed as Section 14601, 14601.1, 14601.2, 23152, or 23153
- Veh. Code, § 41610Printed as Section 14601
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.