Each year new laws hit the books, often not affecting the motoring public much. This 2026 is different \u2014 many of them do.<\/p>\n
Honk got a big assist from the California Highway Patrol, which pointed out the new laws listed below and provided background on them.<\/p>\n
Traffic laws, by the way, are not created by police agencies or the Department of Motor Vehicles. No, the state\u2019s lawmakers have that chore.<\/p>\n
These new laws, unless otherwise noted, took effect on Jan. 1:<\/p>\n
\u2014 Electric bikes now must have a red reflector, or a lighted red light that comes with a reflector, on their rear ends. In the old days \u2014 Dec. 31 and before \u2014 such setups were only required at night.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Riders of off-road motorcycles, on land that is open to the public, must wear a helmet to protect their bean. These e-motos are faster than electric bicycles and often misidentified as them; retailers have even sold them as e-bikes. They must now carry what is called the California Green Sticker to distinguish what they are.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Caltrans has joined the groundswell of agencies allowed to place so-called speed cameras, deploying radar or a laser to take photos of license plates of vehicles going 11 mph over the speed limit; Caltrans will use them in work zones on freeways and highways. Like with seven other cities previously approved \u2014 including Los Angeles, Long Beach and Malibu \u2014 Caltrans\u2019 cameras will be for a pilot program.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Remember the \u201cslow down and move over\u201d law? Approved in California back in 2007, motorists in the slow lane on the freeway, if an emergency vehicle is on the shoulder, must slide over a lane; if not prudent to do so, then the motorist must slow down. Now, drivers are to do that if any vehicle has on flashing lights, or flares, cones or reflectors have been place about.<\/p>\n
\u2014 In school zones, cities and counties can now lower the speed limit from 25 to 20. After Jan 1, 2031, all school zones will have the 20-mph limit, so long as proper signage is posted.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Key-programming devices, allowing crooks to quickly steal vehicles, are now illegal to possess unless they are intended to be used for a legit purpose. Thieves can use such devices to take a vehicle via its on-board computer or key fob. The law was written by an assemblymember who was a longtime CHP officer.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Caltrans can lower the speed limit by 5 mph on some streets, even though a vehicle survey suggests the limit should be higher, to improve safety.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Beginning on July 1, an officer can cite an autonomous vehicle\u2019s manufacturer if the car or truck violates a traffic law. San Francisco police officers had pondered who \u2014 or what \u2014 can be cited when a traffic law if broken. Also, there must be a way for an official to call the company, and for the company to take over control of the car or truck so it can be moved out of the way of traffic if it poops out and just stops.<\/p>\n
To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com\/tag\/honk<\/a>. Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Each year new laws hit the books, often not affecting the motoring public much. This 2026 is different…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,138,3159,62821,100,136,1967],"class_list":["post-118448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-driving","tag-honk","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-transportation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}