Driving in California

I know California requires special endorsement for 45 footers if you are a resident. As I read their law, it says if you are an out-of-state driver you are OK if you have a license from your state that allows you to operate that vehicle. I'm from North Dakota which doesn't require a special license. My question is, has anyone traveling through CA lately been pulled over to prove your license allows you to drive your vehicle? My coach is in Oregon at Marathon and I'm going to take it to AZ and am trying to decide whether to drive through CA to get it there or take the long route through Idaho, Utah, etc. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Every state must accept the non commercial license of the state it was issued. Where it can get tricky is when the coach's registration is a different state than your license or when the coach is registered to an LLC. A coach registered to an LLC can be viewed as a commercial coach.

What CA can do or any other state for that matter is enforce other restrictions. CA was, maybe still is, very strict on length limitations. Make sure you aren't on a restricted length road. Many are limited to 40 feet. I also understand CA was strict on overall length of 65 feet.

We had a great trip last year travelling all around CA. I've always enjoyed travelling without a coach in CA, but don't see a need for undue harassment.

Also remember while in California, if your towing something whether a car, trailer, or boat you are restricted to 55mph, even on interstates. Speeding while towing gives CHiPs the excuse to go over you thoroughly. We travel occasionally from Indio to Mira Loma detached so the coach and towed can do the posted speed for all not towing which is 70. And yes if you get pulled over and you appear over the magic length number of 65ft they will break out the tape measure

Over the years, I have heard many stories about the CHP pulling over Prevosts and RV's for various reasons. Primarily for over length towing. This occurs primarily on Hwy 10 out of Indio, California heading to and from Arizona. I have never seen any RV pulled over personally only seen break downs and such. The Commercial transport passenger buses usually travel at 70 MPH and above in California and I have never seen them pulled over. What I do is to obey the speed limit and stay out of the fast lane. Maintain a steady speed and distance between myself and vehicles in front of me. Stay off the surface streets and look for the Rest stops and Truck stops for pulling off. Stay out of the LA freeway system if at all possible.

Michael, we live and drive in CA all the time. Just mind your own business and do the speed limit and nobody will bother you. For what it's worth when you come down from Coburg I would advise a little drive thru the woods to get to AZ. We came down last month and the normal route would be the 5 to the 210 to the 10 and out thru the desert. I will never do it again, once you get up the Grapevine the road turns to complete crap. We don't have a noise in our bus and it took me a week to get the rattles out. When you get to Sacramento p/u the 99 down to the 58 east over Tehachapi and then you can drop south on 395 to the 15 and to the 10 or stay on 58 and p/u 40 going east depending on where your going in AZ. This keeps you north of L.A. and it's nice driving up in the high desert. I didn't look at the map but I don't think it's more then 40 miles different.

I agree with Bernie !! I came thru there on Monday and it was a zoo!! The road narrows and the gaurd rails come to close at times,

Hey Sid, I don't know what the hell I was thinking. It's just a mess and the road is so tore up. High desert from now on.

I debate every time whether to take I-5 or 99 after Sacramento. Those bumps in I-5 make it worth the slower drive on 99. I got stop by CHP once pulling a toad and I was going over the speed limit and to cop chased me for miles. Finally he came along side of me and waved me over, why he didn't use the sirens I don't know. I was heading back to Portland Oregon and my mother had called to tell me the doctors wanted to pull the plug on her ventilator, so I was not paying attention to the speed just talking with the wife. So he stopped me and said you know you where speeding and I said no but I could have been because I was thinking about the medical situation. He told me "55 MPH while towing regardless of what or with you are towing. I going to call the CHP north of weed to keep an eye on you". I took the hint, I was one lucky guy, and have set the cruise control to 58MPH ever since while driving in CA. I know that cops never know what is going to happen when they stop someone now days, but I remember many LE friends saying that a lot of positive things can happen if you pass the attitude test first.