Vehicles: tolls

The law broadens toll exemptions for properly marked emergency vehicles during qualifying emergency or urgent responses, helping them use toll roads, bridges, and HOT lanes when doing so improves response times.

What the law does ​

• Extends toll exemptions to properly marked emergency vehicles authorized by the Department of the California Highway Patrol, even without an exempt California license plate.
• Requires the vehicle to be on a qualifying urgent or emergency response, return trip, or emergency-related fire station coverage assignment, and for the driver to determine the toll facility will likely improve service availability or response time.
• Keeps return trips from urgent or emergency calls ineligible for a HOT-lane exemption.
• Allows toll operators to request dispatch records or logs when they believe a vehicle did not qualify, and requires local emergency-service providers and toll operators to make agreements on toll-facility use when requested.

Who it affects ​

• Police, fire, sheriff, ambulance, and other authorized emergency-vehicle providers.
• Toll-facility owners and operators.
• Public agencies and ambulance corporations responsible for certifying qualifying vehicle use.

Context ​

The exemption still requires proper emergency-vehicle identification and marking, and does not cover personal use, commuting, training, or administrative travel.