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Cal. VEH § 38080

This is the official text of Cal. VEH § 38080, part of California’s Vehicle Code — governs traffic laws, driver's licenses, and vehicle registration.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Official statutory text

(a) The department may authorize, under Section 4456, dealers licensed under Article 1 (commencing with Section 11700) of Chapter 4 of Division 5 to use the process described in Section 4456 and corresponding temporary identification devices upon off-highway motor vehicles subject to identification that they sell.

(b) Off-highway motor vehicles subject to identification that are purchased from dealers not required to be licensed under Article 1 (commencing with Section 11700) of Chapter 4 of Division 5, or that are specially constructed by the owner or owners, may be operated off-highway, as provided by this division, without an identification plate or device or identification certificate, provided a receipt or other suitable device issued by the department is displayed upon the vehicle evidencing an application has been made and appropriate fees paid pursuant to this division, until the identification plate or device and identification certificate are received from the department.

(c) This section shall become operative January 1, 2019.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.