(a) Every vehicle which, if operated during darkness, would be subject to the requirements of Section 25100, and every truck tractor, irrespective of width, shall at all times be equipped with at least three red emergency reflectors. The reflectors need be carried by only one vehicle in a combination.

All reflectors shall be maintained in good working condition.

Terms Used In California Vehicle Code 25300

  • City: includes every city and city and county within this State. See California Vehicle Code 255
  • commercial vehicle: is a motor vehicle of a type required to be registered under this code used or maintained for the transportation of persons for hire, compensation, or profit or designed, used, or maintained primarily for the transportation of property. See California Vehicle Code 260
  • Darkness: is a ny time from one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise and any other time when visibility is not sufficient to render clearly discernible any person or vehicle on the highway at a distance of 1,000 feet. See California Vehicle Code 280
  • Department: means the Department of Motor Vehicles except, when used in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 2100) of Division 2 and in Divisions 11 (commencing with Section 21000), 12 (commencing with Section 24000), 13 (commencing with Section 29000), 14 (commencing with Section 31600), 14. See California Vehicle Code 290
  • driver: is a person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. See California Vehicle Code 305
  • Highway: is a way or place of whatever nature, publicly maintained and open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See California Vehicle Code 360
  • motor vehicle: includes a recreational vehicle as that term is defined in subdivision (a) of §. See California Vehicle Code 415
  • traffic: includes pedestrians, ridden animals, vehicles, street cars, and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using any highway for purposes of travel. See California Vehicle Code 620
  • truck tractor: is a motor vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as to carry a load, other than a part of the weight of the vehicle and the load so drawn. See California Vehicle Code 655
  • vehicle: is a device by which any person or property may be propelled, moved, or drawn upon a highway, excepting a device moved exclusively by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See California Vehicle Code 670

(b) When the vehicle is disabled on the roadway during darkness, reflectors of the type specified in subdivision (a) shall be immediately placed as follows:

(1) One at the traffic side of the disabled vehicle, not more than 10 feet to the front or rear of the vehicle.

(2) One at a distance of approximately 100 feet to the rear of the disabled vehicle in the center of the traffic lane occupied by the vehicle.

(3) One at a distance of approximately 100 feet to the front of the disabled vehicle in the center of the traffic lane occupied by such vehicle.

(4) If disablement of the vehicle occurs within 500 feet of a curve, crest of a hill, or other obstruction to view, the driver shall so place the reflectors in that direction as to afford ample warning to other users of the highway, but in no case less than 100 nor more than 500 feet from the disabled vehicle.

(5) If disablement of the vehicle occurs upon any roadway of a divided or one-way highway, the driver shall place one reflector at a distance of approximately 200 feet and one reflector at a distance of approximately 100 feet to the rear of the vehicle in the center of the lane occupied by the stopped vehicle, and one reflector at the traffic side of the vehicle not more than 10 feet to the rear of the vehicle.

(c) When the vehicle is disabled or parked off the roadway but within 10 feet thereof during darkness, warning reflectors of the type specified in subdivision (a) shall be immediately placed by the driver as follows: one at a distance of approximately 200 feet and one at a distance of approximately 100 feet to the rear of the vehicle, and one at the traffic side of the vehicle not more than 10 feet to the rear of the vehicle. The reflectors shall, if possible, be placed between the edge of the roadway and the vehicle, but in no event less than two feet to the left of the widest portion of the vehicle or load thereon.

(d) (1) Until the reflectors required by this section can be placed properly, the requirements of this section may be complied with temporarily either by placing lighted red fusees or liquid-burning flares in the required locations or by using turn signal lamps, but only if front turn signal lamps at each side are being flashed simultaneously and rear turn signal lamps at each side are being flashed simultaneously.

(2) The driver of a commercial motor vehicle equipped with fusees or liquid-burning flares shall place a lighted fusee or liquid-burning flare at each of the locations specified in subdivision (b). There shall be at least one lighted fusee or liquid-burning flare at each of the prescribed locations for as long as the commercial motor vehicle is stopped. Before the stopped commercial vehicle is moved, the driver shall properly extinguish and remove each fusee or liquid-burning flare.

(3) If gasoline or any other flammable or combustible liquid or gas seeps or leaks from a fuel container or commercial motor vehicle stopped upon a highway, an emergency warning signal producing a flame shall not be lighted or placed except at a distance from the liquid or gas as will assure the prevention of a fire or explosion.

(4) (A) A driver shall not use or permit the use of any flame-producing emergency signal for protecting any of the following:

(i) A commercial vehicle transporting Division 1.1, Division 1.2, or Division 1.3 explosives, as classified by the United States Department of Transportation.

(ii) A cargo tank motor vehicle, whether loaded or empty, used for the transportation of any Class 3 flammable liquid or Division 2.1 flammable gas, as classified by the United States Department of Transportation.

(iii) A commercial motor vehicle using compressed gas as a motor fuel.

(B) In lieu of a flame-producing emergency signal, emergency reflective triangles, red electric lanterns, or red emergency reflectors shall be used, the placement of which shall be in the same manner as prescribed in Section 392.22(b) of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(e) The reflectors shall be displayed continuously during darkness while the vehicle remains disabled upon the roadway or parked or disabled within 10 feet thereof.

(f) Subdivisions (b), (c), (d), and (e) do not apply to a vehicle under either of the following circumstances:

(1) Parked in a legal position within the corporate limits of any city.

(2) Parked in a legal position upon a roadway bounded by adjacent curbs.

(g) In addition to the reflectors specified in subdivision (a), an emergency warning sign or banner may be attached to a vehicle which is disabled upon the roadway or which is parked or disabled within 10 feet of a roadway.

(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 208, Sec. 19. (AB 2906) Effective January 1, 2017.)

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