A friend of mine is moving out of California soon, and the dates haven’t lined up as well as he would have wanted.
He’s going to be without anywhere to crash for at least two nights before he can leave the state, and there’s no one nearby with place for him to stay.
As much as he didn’t want to, the only option he could think of was sleeping in his car for a couple of nights.
He asked me if this would be legal, or if he would get in trouble for it—I wasn’t sure, so I decided to look into it.
So, is it illegal to sleep in your car in California?
Sleeping in your car in designated rest stops is not illegal. There is also no state-wide law stating sleeping in your car is illegal. However, most cities and towns have ordinances against it, and it does become a criminal offense. Apart from at stops, then, it’s best avoided.
So, again, while there isn’t a codified, state law banning sleeping in your car, most cities do outright ban it on a criminal level.
Typically, when business hours have ended, ‘dwelling’ in your car is not legal.
During the day, you may be more likely to get away with it.
Let’s look further into this.
What happens if you get caught sleeping in your car in California?
Again, first of all, just to be clear, you are permitted to sleep in your car in designated areas—but I’ll get into that later.
For now, when I say ‘caught’, we can assume that you were sleeping in your car in a town, city, residential area, or somewhere otherwise built up.
All that will likely happen, in most cases and certainly in first offender cases, you’ll just be moved on.
You won’t be detained or arrested; you’ll just be asked to move on somewhere else.
For many, this might just mean just driving somewhere more secluded where they can sleep.
A lot of people have no choice.
For repeat offenses, though, in the same area, you could be looking at considerable fines.
Any penalty beyond that would only be for repeated offences over and over.
So, all that’s really likely to happen is you will get slapped with a fine.
Nonetheless, it’s not worth the risk, so let’s look at why sleeping in your car is illegal.
Why is sleeping in your car illegal?
It depends on how you look at it, but those enforcing the rules would suggest it is because they want to ensure the safety of neighborhoods at night.
Supposedly, criminals will hide in their vehicles in residential areas at night, waiting to come out and commit theft.
By banning sleeping in cars, law enforcement hope to manage this tendency.
However, critics of the measures suggest they are merely draconian control measures, designed to penalize the poor and vulnerable who may otherwise have nowhere else to stay.
However, the rules that are currently in place are a somewhat softened version of previous proposed legislation.
In 2014 one law was shot down by the federal court.
So, it really depends on how you look at it, but it certainly would seem as though there is a strong desire to police cities to a greater extent.
Where can I sleep in my car in California?
All this said, I do want to reiterate that there are no state-wide laws banning vehicle-dwelling outright.
If you’re on a long drive through the state, there are plenty of places for you to get some rest.
The best plan is to plot your route so you can sync up with rest stops along the way.
Sleeping in a rest stop is fully permitted, and you’ll get away with it any hour of the day.
Rest areas along the side of the highway are fine, too, usually.
Though you usually aren’t allowed to stay there quite as long.
So, designated rest stops are your best bet.
California is a big state, though, so if you’re out in the middle of nowhere, you’re unlikely to get questioned by anyone.
That does raise the question of safety, though.
Is it safe to sleep in your car?
For the most part, yes. As long as you take all necessary precautions, like hiding any clear valuables, locking windows and doors, and even leaving yourself visible, no one is likely to bother you in your car.
The real danger would be in a highly populated area like a city, where sleeping in your car would be illegal to begin with.
There, someone is perhaps more likely to see someone sleeping in their car as an opportunity.
In rest areas and designated spots, there will be no issue with sleeping in your car.
Many others around you will be doing the same thing, and the stop will have CCTV and all other requisite security.
So, in general, you’ve got nothing to worry about from sleeping in your car if you do it right.
So, the best advice is to just avoid sleeping in your car except at rest stops.
If you’re really struggling for somewhere to stay but you have your car, try and find a nearby lodging house or shelter.
There will be something available, and you are very likely to get a fine at the least if you’re caught sleeping in your car.
While not illegal state-wide, you can safely assume it is in towns and cities.