Vehicle Code - VEH 27400. DIVISION 12. EQUIPMENT OF VEHICLES [24000. - 28244.] CHAPTER 5. Other Equipment [27000. - 28160.] ARTICLE 3.5. Headsets and Earplugs [27400. - 27400.] A person operating a motor vehicle or bicycle may not wear a headset covering, earplugs in, or earphones covering, resting on, or inserted in, both ears. This prohibition does not apply to any of the following: (a) A person operating authorized emergency vehicles, as defined in Section 165. (b) A person engaged in the operation of either special construction equipment or equipment for use in the maintenance of any highway. (c) A person engaged in the operation of refuse collection equipment who is wearing a safety headset or safety earplugs. (d) A person wearing personal hearing protectors in the form of earplugs or molds that are specifically designed to attenuate injurious noise levels. The plugs or molds shall be designed in a manner so as to not inhibit the wearer’s ability to hear a siren or horn from an emergency vehicle or a horn from another motor vehicle. (e) A person using a prosthetic device that aids the hard of hearing. Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 451, Sec. 55. (SB 491) Effective January 1, 2016.