California Vehicle Code ARTICLE 1 - Persons Required to Be Licensed, Exemptions, and Age Limits

• Section 12500.
  (a) A person may not drive a motor vehicle upon a highway, unless the person then holds a valid driver’s license issued under this code, except...
• Section 12501.
  The following persons are not required to obtain a driver’s license:(a) An officer or employee of the United States, while operating a motor vehicle owned or...
• Section 12502.
  (a) The following persons may operate a motor vehicle in this state without obtaining a driver’s license under this code:(1) A nonresident over the age of 18...
• Section 12503.
  A nonresident over the age of 18 years whose home state or country does not require the licensing of drivers may operate a foreign vehicle...
• Section 12504.
  (a) Sections 12502 and 12503 apply to any nonresident over the age of 16 years but under the age of 18 years. The maximum period during...
• Section 12505.
  (a) (1) For purposes of this division only and notwithstanding Section 516, residency shall be determined as a person’s state of domicile. “State of domicile” means the...
• Section 12506.
  The department may issue a temporary driver’s license to any person applying for a driver’s license, to any person applying for renewal of a driver’s...
• Section 12508.
  When in the opinion of the department it would be in the interest of safety, the department may issue, in individual cases, to any applicant...
• Section 12509.
  (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (f) of Section 12514, the department, for good cause, may issue an instruction permit to a physically and mentally...
• Section 12509.5.
  (a) A person shall obtain an instruction permit issued pursuant to this section prior to operating, or being issued a class M1 or M2 driver’s license...
• Section 12511.
  No person shall have in his or her possession or otherwise under his or her control more than one driver’s license.(Amended by Stats. 1988, Ch....
• Section 12512.
  Except as provided in Sections 12513, 12514, and 12814.6, no license to drive shall be issued to a person under the age of 18 years.(Added...
• Section 12513.
  (a) Upon application, successful completion of tests and compliance with Sections 17700 to 17705, inclusive, the department may issue a junior permit to any person 14...
• Section 12514.
  (a) Junior permits issued pursuant to Section 12513 shall not be valid for a period exceeding that established on the original request as the approximate date...
• Section 12515.
  (a) No person under the age of 18 years shall be employed for compensation by another for the purpose of driving a motor vehicle on the...
• Section 12516.
  It is unlawful for any person under the age of 18 years to drive a school bus transporting pupils to or from school.(Enacted by Stats....
• Section 12517.
  (a) (1) A person may not operate a schoolbus while transporting pupils unless that person has in his or her immediate possession a valid driver’s license for...
• Section 12517.1.
  (a) A “schoolbus accident” means any of the following:(1) A motor vehicle accident resulting in property damage in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000), or personal injury,...
• Section 12517.2.
  (a) Applicants for an original or renewal certificate to drive a schoolbus, school pupil activity bus, youth bus, general public paratransit vehicle, or farm labor vehicle...
• Section 12517.3.
  (a) (1) An applicant for an original certificate to drive a schoolbus, school pupil activity bus, youth bus, or general public paratransit vehicle shall be fingerprinted by...
• Section 12517.4.
  This section governs the issuance of a certificate to drive a schoolbus, school pupil activity bus, youth bus, general public paratransit vehicle, or farm labor...
• Section 12517.45.
  (a) A person shall not operate a motor vehicle described in subdivision (k) of Section 545 while transporting school pupils at or below the 12th-grade level...
• Section 12517.5.
  A person who is employed as a driver of a paratransit vehicle shall not operate that vehicle unless the person meets both of the following...
• Section 12518.
  The provisions of Section 12504 shall apply to any nonresident who is under the age of 18 years and who is a member of the...
• Section 12519.
  (a) No person shall operate a farm labor vehicle unless the person has in his or her possession a driver’s license for the appropriate class of...
• Section 12520.
  (a) No person employed as a tow truck driver, as defined in Section 2430.1, shall operate a tow truck unless that person has, in his or...
• Section 12521.
  An operator of a tour bus shall, at all times when operating the tour bus, do all the following:(a) Use a safety belt.(b) Report any accidents involving...
• Section 12522.
  (a) Every person who operates a schoolbus or youth bus in the transportation of school pupils shall, in addition to any other requirement for a schoolbus...
• Section 12523.
  (a) No person shall operate a youth bus without having in possession a valid driver’s license of the appropriate class, endorsed for passenger transportation and a...
• Section 12523.5.
  (a) No person shall operate a general public paratransit vehicle unless he or she has in his or her possession a valid driver’s license of the...
• Section 12523.6.
  (a) (1) On and after March 1, 1998, no person who is employed primarily as a driver of a motor vehicle that is used for the transportation...
• Section 12524.
  A class A, class B, or class C driver’s licenseholder shall not operate a vehicle hauling highway route controlled quantities of radioactive materials, as defined...
• Section 12525.
  Mechanics or other maintenance personnel may operate vehicles requiring a schoolbus endorsement or certificates issued pursuant to Section 2512, 12517, 12519, 12523, or 12523.5 without...
• Section 12527.
  In addition to satisfying all requirements specified in this code and in regulations adopted pursuant to this code, an applicant for an ambulance driver certificate...

Last modified: October 22, 2018