Monterey Car Week 2026, Mapped

🚔 Big Sur & the peninsula are patrolled hard all week — CHP and every local department run zero-tolerance details before, during and after Car Week. Modified exhaust, unlawful lighting and smog deletes are stop-and-cite priorities: Seaside PD carries a portable exhaust sound meter (citations above 100 dB, court-ready readings — their words: "rectify the issue or avoid Seaside"), other departments field similar mobile sensors, and state smog referees ride along. Exhibition of speed can mean arrest and a 30-day impound. Be considerate: this coast is overloved, and blocked pullouts delay fire and ambulance crews.

📷 Assume your plate is read — Monterey (37), Seaside (30), Salinas (~40) and most peninsula cities run license-plate-reader networks. Last year's parking-lot takeovers in Seaside and Sand City ended in multi-agency dispersals, ~199 citations and 22 arrests; those lots will be watched. Meet up at the real thing instead — Cars & Coffee at Del Monte Center or the Little Car Show cruise in Pacific Grove. See the Strict Enforcement layer on the map, and text CARWEEK to 65513 for the City of Monterey's live traffic alerts.