Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual

Driver Education illustration

Section 16 of 38

Chapter 15: Off-Highway Vehicles

15.060 Exemptions

Chapter 15 Off-Highway Vehicles (OHV)

15.060 Exemptions (CVC §38010)

The following vehicles are exempt from OHV identification:

  • Vehicles crossing a highway in accordance with a permit issued by the Department of Transportation (CALTRANS).
  • Special construction equipment, special mobile equipment, cemetery equipment, forklift trucks, firefighting vehicles, logging vehicles, and golf carts.
  • Implements of husbandry. (defined in CVC Division 16, beginning with §36000.)
  • Self-propelled wheelchairs.
  • Motorized bicycles (mopeds).
  • Motor vehicles owned by the state, or a county, city, district, or political subdivision of the state, or the United States.
  • Motor vehicles owned or operated by, or operated under contract with a utility company, whether privately or publicly owned, when used as specified in CVC §22512.
  • Special construction equipment described in CVC §565, regardless of whether such motor vehicles are used in connection with highway or railroad work.
  • A motor vehicle owned or operated by a nonresident of this state, whether or not such vehicle is identified or registered in a foreign jurisdiction. For the purposes of this paragraph, a person who holds a valid driver license issued by a foreign jurisdiction shall be presumed to be a nonresident.
  • Commercial vehicles with an unladen weight of 6,001 pounds or more.
  • Any motorcycle manufactured in 1942 or prior.
  • Four-wheel motor vehicles operated solely in organized racing or competitive events upon a “closed course” when such events are conducted under the auspices of a recognized sanctioning body or by permit issued by the local government authority having jurisdiction.
  • Any racing motorcycle which carries a Motorcycle Transportation Permit while being transported on the highway.