Alabama Names the Dash Camera in Statute and Allows Windshield Mounting If It Does Not Obstruct the View

The relevant statute is Act 2023-478, which repealed Alabama's 2012 texting law at § 32-5A-350 and replaced it with § 32-5A-350.1. Read the repeal notice on the old section rather than its text: the ALISON code database still prints all of former § 32-5A-350, under a heading reading that it was repealed by Act 2023-478 effective June 14, 2023.

Section 32-5A-350.1(a)(1) defines a stand-alone electronic device as a device other than a wireless telecommunications device which stores audio or video data files to be retrieved on demand by a user, which is what a dedicated dash camera is. That matters because the offense in subsection (c) reaches a stand-alone electronic device as well as a phone.

Alabama's distracted-driving offense is also not a flat prohibition. Subsection (c) is violated only where the individual is observed crossing in and out of a traffic lane without using a turn signal, swerving, or otherwise operating the vehicle in an impaired manner while doing one of the seven listed things. Two of those seven touch cameras. Subsection (c)(4) reaches watching a video or movie other than data related to the navigation of the vehicle. Subsection (c)(5) reaches recording or broadcasting a video, and then removes exactly the dash camera case: the prohibition "shall not apply to electronic devices used for the sole purpose of continuously recording or broadcasting video within or outside of the motor vehicle."

Subsection (g) then lists ten conditions under which the section does not apply at all, and (g)(5) is a standalone exemption for using a continuous recording device that operates within or outside the vehicle, including but not limited to a dash camera or backup camera. A camera that only records therefore sits outside the section twice over, through the proviso in (c)(5) and through the exemption in (g)(5).

Mounting position is answered by (g)(9), which allows a driver aged 18 or older to touch a mounted wireless device where two things hold. The first, in (g)(9)a., is that the device is mounted to the vehicle, including the windshield, dashboard, or center console, and does not create an unsafe obstruction of the driver's view of the road. That is the Legislature naming the windshield as an acceptable mounting surface and attaching a single condition to it. The second, (g)(9)b., is that the touch is a single swipe or tap that does not activate the camera, video or gaming features for viewing, recording, amusement or other non-navigational functions, other than functions related to transporting persons or property for compensation. Subsection (g)(4) separately covers a device "worn on the person or mounted onto the dashboard, center console, windshield, or other part of the vehicle" used for substantially hands-free voice communication.

The older rule points the same way. Section 32-5-215(a), from Acts 1927, No. 347 as amended in 1983, forbids driving with any sign, poster, or other nontransparent material upon the front windshield, sidewings, or side or rear windows which obstructs the driver's clear view of the highway or any intersecting highway. A camera body is nontransparent material, so the question under that section is obstruction, not the object's identity. Alabama did not enact a closed list of permitted windshield objects for this purpose the way Florida did.

Do not import the tint chapter's seven-inch square. Section 32-5C-3(2) allows signs, stickers, or other matter displayed in a seven-inch square in the lower corner of the front or rear windshield, and § 32-5C-3(4) allows a transparent item that is not red or amber on the uppermost six inches, but those are exceptions to § 32-5C-2 only. Section 32-5C-1(4) defines material for that chapter as "Any transparent product or substance which reduces light transmission", and a camera is not transparent, so the tint chapter never reaches it and its allowances neither authorize nor limit a camera mount.

1(g)(5) exempts a continuous recording device outright. Where the section is violated, subsection (e)(1) makes it a Class C misdemeanor with fines of not more than $50 for a first conviction, $100 for a second and $150 for a third or subsequent, each measured within the previous 24-month period. Subsection (e)(3) bars any court costs, and subsection (f) provides that an individual may not be placed under custodial arrest solely for a violation. A camera positioned so that it blocks the driver's view is instead handled under § 32-5-215(a) as nontransparent material obstructing the clear view of the highway, and § 32-5A-8(b) supplies the penalty where none is stated: up to $100 or 10 days for a first conviction, up to $200 or 30 days for a second within a year, and up to $500 or three months for a third or subsequent.

Enforcement is by warrantless arrest where the offense occurs in the officer's presence under § 32-5-310, which also caps the bail bond at $300 and forbids a cash bond.