Veh. Code, § 26451 · Article 2. Operation of Brakes
Veh. Code, § 26451
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
The parking brake system of every motor vehicle shall comply with the following requirements:
(a) The parking brake shall be adequate to hold the vehicle or combination of vehicles stationary on any grade on which it is operated under all conditions of loading on a surface free from snow, ice or loose material. In any event the parking brake shall be capable of locking the braked wheels to the limit of traction.
(b) The parking brake shall be applied either by the driver’s muscular efforts, by spring action, or by other energy which is isolated and used exclusively for the operation of the parking brake or the combination parking brake and emergency stopping system.
(c) The parking brake shall be held in the applied position solely by mechanical means.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 1981, Ch. 774, Sec. 8.
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=26451.
- Text hash
- sha256 5d921e3918c5745f00ee79e5bab016f2e8fd4a7a35f5fda8accd7c0d15103bbb
- 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.