Does someone else driving my car get free tolls?

The statute conditions the exemption on the vehicle being registered to a veteran and enrolled. Agencies administering it describe the benefit as applying with the veteran present as driver or passenger. Ask your tolling agency how it treats a vehicle used by a family member — that is an operating question the statute does not answer.

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Free Tolls Statewide on a Veteran Licence Plate

Six plate types exempt you from tolls on every California toll road, bridge and crossing — but only if you enrol a transponder, and never in an express lane.

Verified August 18, 2026

What this benefit is

Since 1 January 2023 a veteran displaying any of six specialised licence plates pays no toll on any California toll road, toll bridge, toll highway or vehicular crossing.

It also wipes out related fines, and the toll evasion penalties in Vehicle Code §§23302 and 23302.5 do not apply to an exempt vehicle.

What it's worth: No tolls on any California toll facility except express lanes

Estimated for a regular commuter on a tolled corridor. Someone who rarely uses a toll facility saves very little; a daily user of a bridge crossing saves considerably more.
The exemption covers tolls AND related fines under §23301.3(a), and §23301.3(d) disapplies the toll evasion penalties in §§23302 and 23302.5.

Who is entitled to it

A veteran, with the vehicle registered in their name.
Displaying a Disabled Veteran, Pearl Harbor Survivor, Medal of Honor or Distinguished Service Cross / Navy Cross / Air Force Cross, Former American Prisoner of War, Congressional Medal of Honor, or Purple Heart plate.
And with the vehicle registered to a transponder account.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

The thing most people get wrong

The plate is not enough — you have to enrol, and it costs to start

§23301.3(b)(3) makes an active transponder account a condition of the exemption, not a convenience. Drive an unenrolled vehicle through a gantry with a Purple Heart plate and you are billed like anyone else. Enrolment is with each tolling agency separately rather than once statewide, and the account is not free to open — SANDAG asks for $40 in prepaid tolls, or $20 per transponder above two. That credit is at least usable on other FasTrak roads.

How to claim it

1Obtain one of the six qualifying plates from the DMV first — the exemption hangs off the plate.
2Open a transponder account with the tolling agency and enrol the plate in its veterans exemption programme. This is per agency, not once statewide.
3Expect to fund the account: SANDAG asks $40 in prepaid tolls to open one, or $20 per transponder beyond two. That credit is usable on other FasTrak roads.
4Do not use an express lane assuming you are covered. You are not.

File with: Each tolling agency whose facilities you use
Documents you will need: ca veteran licence plate registration · proof of vehicle registration
Periodic re-certification: Re-certify on the schedule the agency sets.

Common mistakes that cost people this benefit

Using an express lane and assuming you are covered. §23301.3(c) excludes high-occupancy toll lanes in terms. In San Diego the SR 125 toll road is exempt and the I-15 Express Lanes are not.
Enrolling with one agency and assuming it covers the state. It does not.
Not realising the ordinary Disabled Veteran plate counts. It is one of the six, it is the one most veterans already hold, and the toll exemption usually goes unclaimed alongside the registration fee waiver.

CorrectionThe exemption is NOT automatic on the plate. §23301.3(b)(3) makes an enrolled transponder account a condition of the exemption, and enrolment is with each tolling agency separately. A veteran who reads "free tolls for veteran plates" and drives an unenrolled vehicle through a gantry is billed like anyone else.

Worth knowing§23301.3(c) excludes high-occupancy toll lanes in terms. In San Diego that means the SR 125 toll road is covered and the I-15 Express Lanes are not. The distinction is not obvious from the road.

Worth knowingThe Disabled Veteran plate under §5007 is one of the six, and it is by far the most commonly held. A veteran already carrying a DV plate for the registration fee waiver has the toll exemption available and usually does not know it.

Known gapEnrolment terms are set per tolling agency and we hold SANDAG's. Whether the Bay Area, Orange County and Los Angeles agencies charge the same account deposit, and how each handles a veteran who is a passenger rather than the driver, is unresearched.

Questions people ask

Does someone else driving my car get free tolls?: The statute conditions the exemption on the vehicle being registered to a veteran and enrolled. Agencies administering it describe the benefit as applying with the veteran present as driver or passenger. Ask your tolling agency how it treats a vehicle used by a family member — that is an operating question the statute does not answer.

Sources

authority · statuteCal. Veh. Code §23301.3, added by Stats. 2022, ch. 871 (AB 2949)
operating · published policySANDAG — Veterans Toll Exemption Program

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.