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DIVISION 12. EQUIPMENT OF VEHICLES 24000-28160›CHAPTER 5. Other Equipment 27000-28160›ARTICLE 3.5. Headsets and Earplugs 27400-27400

§ 27400

California Vehicle Code · 2020-11 edition · updated 2026-10-04 · California

A person operating a motor vehicle or bicycle may not wear a headset covering, earplugs in, or earphones covering, resting on, or inserted in, both ears. This prohibition does not apply to any of the following:

(a) A person operating authorized emergency vehicles, as defined in Section 165.

(b) A person engaged in the operation of either special construction equipment or equipment for use in the maintenance of any highway.

(c) A person engaged in the operation of refuse collection equipment who is wearing a safety headset or safety earplugs.

(d) A person wearing personal hearing protectors in the form of earplugs or molds that are specifically designed to attenuate injurious noise levels. The plugs or molds shall be designed in a manner so as to not inhibit the wearer’s ability to hear a siren or horn from an emergency vehicle or a horn from another motor vehicle.

(e) A person using a prosthetic device that aids the hard of hearing.

(Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 451, Sec. 55. (SB 491) Effective January 1, 2016.)

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California Vehicle Code

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