When a deputy stops a driver for driving with a nonoperable headlight in a parking lot, is it unlawful to detain the driver for possessing an open beer can in the vehicle?

The motion asserted that the traffic stop was unlawful because section 24400, on which the deputy relied to make the stop, prohibits driving with a nonoperable headlight only on a public road or highway.² It does not apply on private property. (See People v. Lopez (1987) 197 Cal.App.3d 93, 98-101 (Lopez) [unlawful to detain a person for possessing open beer can in vehicle while parked in a parking lot because Vehicle Code provision barring open beer can in vehicle applied only "upon a highway"].) Thus, even assuming defendant was driving in the parking lot with a nonoperable headlight, she had not committed a traffic violation.