Editor’s note: The headline on this story has been updated to clarify how the items can legally escape the vehicle.
There are two items that can legally drop out of a car in California, according to the state’s vehicle code – specifically California Vehicle Code 23114, KTLA sister station KSEE/KGPE reports.
According to the CHP, a driver can technically spill clear water onto the roadway or feathers from live birds. However, the law stipulates that they have to be live birds.
“A vehicle shall not be driven or moved on any highway unless the vehicle is so constructed, covered, or loaded as to prevent any of its contents or load other than clear water or feathers from live birds from dropping, sifting, leaking, blowing, spilling, or otherwise escaping from the vehicle,” the law reads.
Highway patrol officers warn that debris flying from vehicles can be a very real problem. According to a AAA study, more than 200,000 crashes involved debris on U.S. roadways between 2012 and 2016. Around two-thirds of debris-related crashes were due to items falling from a vehicle.
The California Vehicle Code also stipulates that it’s illegal to operate a snowmobile for the purpose of pursuing deer or other game mammals with the intent to harass them.