California Code of Regulations › Title 13 - Motor Vehicles › Division 2 - Department of the California Highway Patrol › Chapter 2 - Lighting Equipment › Article 22 - Warning Lamps › Section 818 - Type of Warning Lamps Used on Emergency Vehicles and Special Hazard Vehicles

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
Warning lamps on emergency vehicles and special hazard
					 vehicles shall be of the following types:
(a) Required Red Warning Lamps on Authorized
				  Emergency Vehicles. The steady burning red warning lamp required to be visible
				  to the front of an authorized emergency vehicle by Vehicle Code Section
				  25252 shall
				  be a Class A, B or C warning lamp. Motorcycles may instead be equipped with two
				  Class D warning lamps in the front, one of which may flash.
(b) Permitted Additional Red Warning Lamps on
				  Authorized Emergency Vehicles. The additional steady burning or flashing red
				  warning lamp permitted by Vehicle Code Section
				  25252 shall
				  be a Class A, B, C, or E warning lamp.
(c) Permitted Yellow Warning Lamps on
				  Authorized Emergency Vehicles. The additional flashing yellow warning lamp
				  permitted on authorized emergency vehicles by Vehicle Code Section
				  25259 shall
				  be a Class B, C, or E warning lamp. Two yellow motorcycle turn signal lamps may
				  be used as warning lamps on the rear of motorcycles.
(d) Permitted Blue Warning Lamps on Police
				  Vehicles. The additional flashing or steady burning blue warning lamp permitted
				  by Vehicle Code Section
				  25258(b)
				  shall be Class B, C, or E.
(e)
				  Required Yellow Warning Lamps on Tow Cars. The flashing yellow warning lamp
				  required on tow cars by Vehicle Code Section
				  25253 shall
				  be a Class B, C, or E warning lamp. The flashing yellow warning lamp permitted
				  to be displayed to the rear of a tow car while towing a vehicle and moving at a
				  speed slower than the normal flow of traffic may be a 360-degree revolving or
				  gaseous discharge lamp. In such case, the front and side areas of the lens or
				  transparent cover that extends back to 45 degrees to each side of the
				  straight-to-the-rear axis of the lamp shall be covered with opaque material
				  reaching to the top of the lighted area. A revolving lamp may instead be
				  equipped with a device that turns each light source off during the forward
				  three-fourths of its rotation.
(f)
				  Permitted Yellow Warning Lamps on Special Hazard Vehicles. The flashing yellow
				  warning lamps permitted on special hazard vehicles by Article 7 of Division 12
				  of the Vehicle Code beginning with Section
				  25252, shall be a Class B, C, or E
				  warning lamp, depending on whether the lamp is permitted to be displayed only
				  to the front and rear or to the front, sides, and rear.
(g) Warning Lamps for Undercover Cars. The
				  required steady-burning forward-facing warning lamps on authorized emergency
				  vehicles with special plates permitted by Vehicle Code Section
				  5001 shall be
				  a class A, B, or C. This warning lamp may also be a fixed or handheld red
				  spotlamp with a filament of at least 30 watts, and producing at least 3,000
				  candela in red at the brightest point in the beam. Such a lamp need not meet
				  any of the other requirements of this article except for color. Additional
				  steady-burning or flashing warning lamps shall be class A, B, C, or E. These
				  warning lamps may be displayed through transparent or translucent material
				  provided the light, of proper color, is plainly visible and understandable in
				  bright sunlight and during darkness, under normal atmospheric conditions, to a
				  distance of 800 feet from the vehicle. These lights shall not transfigure,
				  disrupt or mask any other required lighting device.
1. Amendment
					 of subsections (e) and (g) filed 11-25-2002; operative 12-25-2002 (Register
					 2002, No. 48).
Note: Authority cited: Section
						26103,
						Vehicle Code. Reference: Sections
						24012 and
						26103,
						Vehicle Code.