Veh. Code, § 24606 · Article 3. Rear Lighting Equipment
Veh. Code, § 24606
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) Every motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle, of a type subject to registration and manufactured on and after January 1, 1969, shall be equipped with one or more backup lamps either separately or in combination with another lamp. Any vehicle may be equipped with backup lamps.
(b) Backup lamps shall be so directed as to project a white light illuminating the highway to the rear of the vehicle for a distance not to exceed 75 feet. A backup lamp may project incidental red, amber, or white light through reflectors or lenses that are adjacent or close to, or a part of, the lamp assembly.
(c) Backup lamps shall not be lighted except when the vehicle is about to be or is backing or except in conjunction with a lighting system which activates the lights for a temporary period after the ignition system is turned off.
(d) Any motor vehicle may be equipped with a lamp emitting white light on each side near or on the rear of the vehicle which is designed to provide supplemental illumination in an area to the side and rear not lighted by the backup lamps. These lamps shall be lighted only with the backup lamps.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 1981, Ch. 813, Sec. 17.
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=24606.
- Text hash
- sha256 8d959fff32f926752eb0926d0bb7c98027cc3ed1e96bda1b02345752e5d0a821
- 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
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.