Arkansas Allows Two Fog Lamps, Two Driving Lamps and Two Ornamental LEDs

The operative rule is a prohibition rather than a permission. Act 1146 of 1997 created Ark. Code § 27-36-221, and Act 1096 of 2003 rewrote it to add a fourth category. As it stands it is unlawful to operate any motor vehicle on a public street or highway with any auxiliary driving lights on unless those lights fall into one of four buckets: factory lighting installed before the initial retail sale, fog lamps conforming to § 27-36-214(b), auxiliary driving or passing lamps conforming to § 27-36-214(c) and (d), or ornamental light emitting diode white lights conforming to § 27-36-214(e). Aftermarket bars and pods that meet none of those descriptions are not merely unregulated in Arkansas, they may not be lit on a public street.

Section 27-36-214 supplies the specifications, and each type is capped at two lamps. A vehicle may carry not more than two spot lamps, and a lighted spot lamp must be aimed so that when approaching another vehicle no part of the high intensity portion of the beam is directed to the left of the prolongation of the extreme left side of the vehicle, nor more than 100 feet ahead of it. Not more than two fog lamps may be mounted on the front, at a height of not less than 12 inches and not more than 30 inches above the surface the vehicle stands on, aimed so that with the vehicle unloaded none of the high intensity portion left of the vehicle's center projects, at 25 feet ahead, higher than four inches below the level of the center of the lamp. Auxiliary passing lamps are limited to two, mounted at 24 to 42 inches. Auxiliary driving lamps are limited to two, mounted at 16 to 42 inches. Both of the last two are subject to § 27-36-210 in any combination with the headlamps. Act 1096 of 2003 added subsection (e), which allows not more than two ornamental light emitting diode white lights mounted on the front of the vehicle.

Colour and brightness are governed separately by Ark. Code § 27-36-208. No person may drive or move a vehicle on a highway with any lamp or device displaying a red, blue or green light visible from directly in front of its center, and the only exceptions are a red light expressly authorised elsewhere in the subchapter and, since Act 209 of 2025, a roadway construction or maintenance vehicle as defined in § 27-51-905(b) running amber, white or green warning lights. Flashing lights are prohibited except on an authorised emergency vehicle, a school bus, a funeral procession under § 27-49-113, turn signals, hazard warning, and roadway construction or maintenance vehicles. Subsection (a) adds a brightness ceiling: any lighted lamp other than headlamps, spot lamps, auxiliary lamps, flashing turn signals, emergency vehicle warning lamps and school bus warning lamps that projects a beam greater than 300 candlepower must be aimed so that no part of the high intensity portion strikes the roadway more than 75 feet from the vehicle.

A handful of extras are allowed outright by Ark. Code § 27-36-217: not more than two side cowl or fender lamps showing amber or white without glare, not more than one running board courtesy lamp on each side, and not more than two backup lamps, which may not be lighted while the vehicle is moving forward. A commercial vehicle 80 inches or more in overall width may carry up to three identification lamps to the front in amber and three to the rear in red. Separately, Ark. Code § 27-36-224, added by Act 1003 of 2013, forbids operating with any covering over a headlamp or other lighting device required by law where the covering reduces its visibility in use, which is what smoked lamp covers and tinted light film run into.

Two penalty routes sit behind these sections. Ark. Code § 27-36-222 makes a violation of the auxiliary driving light rule in § 27-36-221 a violation rather than a misdemeanor, punished accordingly, and under Ark. Code § 5-4-201(c)(1) a violation defined by the Criminal Code or by a later statute that sets no different limit carries a fine not exceeding $100. The rest of the lighting chapter runs through Ark. Code § 27-36-101, which makes it a misdemeanor to drive, or for an owner to knowingly permit to be driven, any vehicle that is not at all times equipped with lamps in proper condition and adjustment as required in the chapter, or that is equipped in any manner in violation of the chapter.

Enforcement is roadside only: Arkansas operates no periodic motor vehicle safety inspection, and the Code's sole use of the phrase "motor vehicle inspection" is a 1977 bond act reprinted in the Title 19 appendix. Because § 27-36-221 turns on the lights being on, switching an unlawful bar off before entering a public street is the practical difference between an equipment stop and none.