CHP discourages drivers from decorating their cars with Christmas lights, citing California vehicle code
The California Highway Patrol is advising drivers to refrain from the growing trend of decking their cars out with Christmas lights during the holiday season, noting that such decorations are illegal.
Such decorated cars are becoming increasingly common on roadways across California and elsewhere as people follow instructions found posted online in YouTube and TikTok videos. Videos of people getting pulled over because of those decorations are also becoming increasingly common on those platforms.
While many of the social media posts made by official CHP accounts focus on more positive yuletide subjects like participating in holiday parades and collecting gifts for the agency's annual CHiPs for Kids toy drive with partnerships across the state, authorities have been adding posts about decorating cars along with the usual seasonal reminders to use a designated driver when imbibing at Christmas parties.
Last week, Hayward CHP posted on its Facebook page about a sergeant pulling over a driver because of the vehicle's exterior Christmas lights. A similar post by the Madera County CHP office on their Facebook account earlier this month noted that some motorists were illegally decorating their cars with multi-colored lights and cited Section 25252 of the California Vehicle Code as the reason such lights are not allowed. The post featured photos of two decorated cars that were pulled over by officers.
"The festive light decorations can mimic an emergency vehicle and confuse motorists. Only emergency vehicles are authorized to display a steady burning red warning lamp visible from the front (25252 V.C.)," the post read. "A vehicle can only display a white or amber light to the front. This law prevents motorists from being confused and clearly recognize an approaching emergency vehicle, which requires them to yield."
Similar rules are also on the books in other states.
The post also noted that the only times such multi-colored decorative holiday lights are allowed on vehicles is when they are operated on private property or driven in Christmas parades.