Veh. Code, § 38170 · Article 6. Identification Plate or Device
Veh. Code, § 38170
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) Every off-highway motor vehicle subject to identification shall have displayed upon it the identification number assigned to the vehicle for which it is issued, together with the word “California” or the abbreviation “CAL” and the year number for which it is issued or a suitable device issued by the department for validation purposes, which device shall contain the year for which it is issued.
(b) The identification plate or device shall at all times be securely fastened to the vehicle for which it is issued and shall be mounted or affixed in a position to be clearly visible, and shall be maintained in a condition so as to be clearly legible. No covering shall be used on the identification plate or device.
(c) All identification plates or devices issued on or after January 1, 1996, shall be displayed as follows:
(1) On the left fork leg of a motorcycle, either horizontal or vertical, and shall be visible from the left side of the motorcycle.
(2) On the left quadrant of the metal frame member of sand rails, rail-type buggies, and dune buggies, visible from the rear of the vehicle.
(3) On the left rear quadrant on permanent plastic or metal frame members of all-terrain vehicles, visible to outside inspections.
(4) On the left tunnel on the back quadrant of snowmobiles.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 1994, Ch. 14, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1995.
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=38170.
- Text hash
- sha256 ac30f505fdfe9e9e81d6c04782e84c9ca3030d3d25d66a384a89dec30094cbf0
- 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.