CALIFORNIA VEHICLE CODE DIVISION 9 SECTION 17460.

"The acceptance or retention by a resident of this state of a driver’s license issued pursuant to the provisions of this code, shall constitute the consent of the person that service of summons may be made upon him within or without this state, whether or not he is then a resident of this state, in any action brought in the courts of this state upon a cause of action arising in this state out of his operation of a motor vehicle anywhere within this state."

The other sections close to this one that are also about consenting to service of process.

Anyway, I find a lot of interesting things about these sections, beginning with the fact that service of process is consensual, but also when reading through them the Legislature continually switches back and forth from 'this state' and 'this State', so much that it's very confusing. I'm finding that the code applies only to residents and some nonresidents in certain situations. But what about inhabitants?

From what I'm gathering, if someone surrenders his driver's license, and otherwise manages to avoid consenting to process, then I think for all intents and purposes he becomes invisible to the state, or State, at least in connection with the vehicle code.

I've also been poking around all the other California Codes, and finding the same situation with other activities. It appears a person can withdraw consent to receive process of service for just about anything.