Alabama Auxiliary Lights: Two Fog Lamps, One Spot Lamp, One Driving Lamp, and Blue Is Police Only

The permissive list in § 32-5-241(a), which goes back to Acts 1949, No. 517 and was last touched in Acts 1965, No. 815, is written as four separate allowances with their own counts and mounting heights. A spot lamp is limited to one, and when lighted it must be aimed and used on approaching another vehicle so that no part of the high intensity portion of the beam goes to the left of the prolongation of the extreme left side of the vehicle, nor more than 100 feet ahead. Fog lamps are limited to two, mounted on the front between 12 and 30 inches above the surface the vehicle stands on, and aimed so that with the vehicle unloaded none of the high intensity portion of the light to the left of the vehicle's center projects, at 25 feet ahead, higher than four inches below the center of the lamp. An auxiliary passing lamp is limited to one, mounted between 24 and 42 inches. An auxiliary driving lamp is limited to one, mounted between 16 and 42 inches. Both of the last two must also meet the beam requirements of the chapter, which § 32-5-242(b) sets at an upper beam revealing persons and vehicles at 350 feet and a lower beam at 100 feet.

Subsection (c) adds three more permitted categories with their own caps: not more than two side cowl or fender lamps emitting amber or white light without glare, not more than one running-board courtesy lamp on each side in white or amber without glare, and not more than two back-up lamps, which may not be lighted while the vehicle is in forward motion.

The catch-all is subsection (d)(1). Any lighted lamp or illuminated device other than head lamps, spot lamps, auxiliary lamps or flashing front direction signals that projects a beam greater than 300 candlepower must be directed so that no part of the beam strikes the roadway at more than 75 feet from the vehicle. Alabama has no separate underglow or accent-lighting statute, so a ground-effect kit is measured against that candlepower and aiming test, and against (d)(2), which bans any lamp or device displaying a red light visible from directly in front of the center of the vehicle and exempts only authorized emergency vehicles. Rearward color is fixed by § 32-5-242(g)(3): every lighting device and reflector mounted on the rear must display or reflect red, except a stop light or other signal device, which may be red, amber or yellow, and the license plate light and back-up lamp, which must be white.

Color is where Alabama is blunt. Section 32-5A-115(c) provides that the lamp on a police vehicle may be red or blue, that fire department vehicles and other authorized emergency vehicles including ambulances shall be red, and then states flatly: "No vehicle other than a police vehicle will use a blue light." The same subsection allows an amber or yellow light on any vehicle or class of vehicles designated by the Director of Public Safety, but makes it a warning or caution light only that does not require other drivers to yield.

Hazard-warning flashers are separately permitted by § 32-5-241(d)(3). Any vehicle may carry flashing lamps to warn of a vehicular traffic hazard; those shown to the front must flash white or amber, or any shade between, and those to the rear must flash amber or red, or any shade between, mounted at the same level and as widely spaced laterally as practicable, and visible at not less than 1,500 feet at night in normal atmospheric conditions. Subsection (d)(4) allows flashing lamps as turn indicators and lets a stop lamp pulsate at different intensities so long as it satisfies the visibility rule in subsection (b)(2) at every intensity.

One timing rule sets when the required lamps must be on at all. Section 32-5-240(a)(1) requires lighted lamps from a half hour after sunset to a half hour before sunrise, at any time the windshield wipers are in use because of rain, sleet or snow other than intermittently for misting, and whenever there is not enough light to render persons and vehicles clearly discernible at 500 feet.

Article 8 of Chapter 5 of Title 32 sets no penalty of its own, so a lighting violation falls under the general provision in § 32-5A-8. Subsection (a) makes it a misdemeanor to violate any provision of that chapter or of Title 32 unless the violation is declared a felony, and subsection (b) fixes the punishment where no other penalty is provided: a fine of not more than $100 or up to 10 days for a first conviction, not more than $200 or up to 30 days or both for a second offense committed within one year of the first, and not more than $500 or up to three months or both for a third or subsequent offense within a year of the first.

Enforcement runs through § 32-5-310, which authorizes any peace officer, state trooper, sheriff, deputy, constable, municipal police officer or marshal, county police or patrol, or license inspector to arrest without a warrant where the offense is committed in the officer's presence and with a warrant otherwise. That section also caps the bail bond at $300, forbids the officer from taking a cash bond, and requires the bond to be reported to the court within 18 hours. Using a blue light on a non-police vehicle contravenes § 32-5A-115(c) and is punished under the same § 32-5A-8(b) scale.