Alcohol and Drugs, Insurance, Collisions and Vehicle Registration
Written for aiforu2 as the source for a practice-test bank and the on-device tutor for the California Class C knowledge test. The facts follow the official handbook; the wording is ours.
Source: California Driver's Handbook (DL 600), California Department of Motor Vehicles, 2025 edition, section 9 "Alcohol and Drugs" (pp. 72–75), section 10 "Financial Responsibility, Insurance Requirements, and Collisions" (pp. 76–78) and section 11 "Vehicle Registration Requirements" (p. 79).
Driving under the influence
California's DUI law covers alcohol and any drug that affects your driving, and makes no distinction between illegal drugs and medicines from a doctor or pharmacy. Tolerance to alcohol falls with age. At any age it is illegal to drive after drinking too much alcohol in any form (cough syrup included), after taking any drug that impairs you, prescription or over-the-counter, or after any combination of the two. Read the labels. An officer who suspects drugs or alcohol may require a blood or urine test; refusing costs a one-year suspension or revocation. Someone aged 13 to 20 convicted of riding a bicycle under the influence may have the driving privilege suspended or delayed for one year.
Open containers: no one, driver or passenger, may drink alcohol or smoke or eat cannabis in a vehicle. Alcohol or cannabis carried in the car must be sealed and unopened; an opened container goes in the trunk or somewhere passengers do not sit, and never in the glove box. The rule does not apply to passengers in a bus, taxi, camper or motorhome.
Blood alcohol concentration limits
It is illegal to drive with a BAC of 0.08% or higher at 21 or older, 0.01% or higher under 21, 0.01% or higher at any age on DUI probation, and 0.04% or higher in a vehicle requiring a commercial license or when driving a passenger for hire. A BAC under the limit is not proof you are safe: almost everyone feels effects below it, and you can be arrested and convicted of DUI on impairment alone, without a BAC measurement. One drink is 1.5 oz of 80-proof liquor, 12 oz of 5% beer or 5 oz of 12% wine; subtract about 0.01% for every 40 minutes between drinks. The handbook chart shows, for example, a 160-pound man at about 0.04 after one drink and 0.07 after two, and a 140-pound woman at 0.05 and 0.09. Drinking or drugs are equally illegal when operating a boat, jet ski or water skis.
DUI arrests and convictions
By driving in California you consent to a breath, blood or urine test when an officer suspects DUI; even after a preliminary alcohol screening or breath test you may have to give blood or urine for drugs, and refusal brings suspension or revocation. On arrest the Administrative Per Se law requires DMV to suspend the privilege; the officer may take your license and issue a 30-day temporary one; you may request a DMV hearing within 10 days of the arrest.
A DUI conviction brings a one-year suspension or revocation, a required DUI program, a California Insurance Proof Certificate (SR 22 or SR 1P), reissue or restriction fees, and possibly an ignition interlock device. Other penalties include up to six months in jail, a fine, vehicle impound with storage fees, and civil lawsuits if you injure or kill someone. A DUI stays on the record for 10 years, and any further DUI in that time draws extra penalties.
Under 21
A driver under 21 may not carry any alcohol in a vehicle unless someone 21 or older is present, and then only full, sealed and unopened (opened containers go in the trunk); the exception is an employee of a business with an off-site liquor license carrying closed containers. Caught with alcohol in the car: impound for up to 30 days, a fine, a one-year suspension, or a one-year delay of a first license. An officer who suspects drinking may require a hand-held breath test, PAS or other chemical test. A DUI conviction at 0.01% or higher means a one-year revocation and a DUI program; a PAS reading of 0.05% or higher lets the officer require a breath or blood test, and a confirmed 0.05% can bring a DUI arrest and suspension.
Insurance and financial responsibility
Carry proof of financial responsibility whenever you drive and at the drive test, and show it to the other drivers after a collision. The minimum coverage is $30,000 for one death or injury, $60,000 for more than one person, and $15,000 for property damage. Parents or guardians carry the financial responsibility for drivers under 18; at 18 you carry your own. Make sure the agent, broker or insurer is licensed by the California Department of Insurance. A collision without proper insurance, whoever was at fault, suspends the privilege for up to four years; you can get the license back for the last three years by filing and keeping an SR 22 or SR 1P. Drivers who cannot afford liability insurance may qualify for the California Low Cost Automobile Insurance Program.
Collisions
The most common causes: driver distraction, unsafe speed, improper turns, ignoring right-of-way rules, ignoring stop signals and signs, driving on the wrong side, and traveling faster or slower than the flow. Slow down when you see emergency flashers ahead and pass carefully, and avoid driving near a collision so help can reach the injured.
If you are in a collision you must stop; leaving is a hit-and-run with severe punishment. Call 911 at once if anyone is hurt; if no one is, move the vehicles out of traffic, then call 911. Show your license, registration, insurance and current address to the other driver, the officer and anyone else involved. Report to law enforcement within 24 hours if anyone is injured or killed (your agent, broker or lawyer may file it). If you hit a parked car or other property, find the owner or leave a securely attached note with your name, phone and address, and report it. If you kill or injure an animal, call the humane society or police and do not move it.
Reporting to DMV: within 10 days on form SR 1 whenever a collision causes more than $1,000 in property damage or anyone is injured or killed, however minor the injury, whoever was at fault, even on private property; law enforcement does not file it for you, and failing to file suspends your privilege. Such collisions go on your record regardless of fault.
Registration
A vehicle must be registered in California to be used here. After buying a vehicle you have 10 days to transfer ownership; after selling one, notify DMV within five days with a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability. A new resident, or someone who takes a job in California, has 20 days to register an out-of-state vehicle, which must meet California requirements including emission controls, or DMV cannot register it.
Practise this with California Driver License questions
More of this guide
REAL ID, applying for a permit, the 50 supervised hours, provisional license restrictions and exceptions, the vision, knowledge and drive tests with the pre-drive vehicle check, and how to renew or replace a license.
Health and driving, hand positions, when to signal and for how long, the headlight rules, emergency flashers, every yellow and white line, numbered lanes, HOV and center left-turn lanes, turnouts and bike lanes.
Right and left turns lane by lane, turning on red, where U-turns are legal, merging and exiting, when you may pass, parallel parking, hills, colored curbs, where you may never park, and your rights at a traffic stop.
Every light and arrow, pedestrian signals, sign shapes and colors, who goes first at intersections, multi-lane roundabouts, crosswalks and blind pedestrians.
Truck No Zones and stopping distances, passing streetcars, lane splitting, yielding to emergency vehicles, slow vehicles and NEVs, bicycle rules and the three-foot law, work zones and double fines.
Towing lanes, the 25 mph school zone, stopping for red school bus lights, 15 mph at blind intersections and alleys, railroad crossing rules, cargo and windshield rules, evading police, points, traffic school and provisional license discipline.
Scanning 10 seconds ahead, the three-second rule, checking blind spots, high and low beams, skids with and without ABS, how much to slow on wet roads, snow and ice, hydroplaning, floods, wind, fog and traffic breaks.
Who must buckle up, rear-facing and booster rules, air bags, children left in cars, the Basic Speed Law and the 65 and 55 mph limits, blowouts, running off the road, freeway breakdowns, stalling on tracks, phones and carbon monoxide.
How DMV reexamines a driver, priority reexamination, restrictions that are never based on age, renewal at 70, the Mature Driver program and senior ID cards.