Hawaii Bans Blue Lighting Outright and Makes Police Approve Light Devices

Read §291-31.5(a) closely and the reach becomes clear. The verbs are "operate, affix or cause to be affixed, display, or possess," so having a blue lamp mounted on the vehicle is enough even if it is never switched on, and the standard is what "appears to be the color blue, or colors blue and red" rather than a measured wavelength. Bicycles, electric foot scooters and mopeds are named alongside cars, which is unusual and matters in a state where those are common commuter vehicles. The section's history line records amendments by Act 174, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021, and Act 278, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022, and the current exemption list reflects them: paragraph (2) refers to the Department of Law Enforcement and paragraph (3) to the Department of Land and Natural Resources division of conservation and resources enforcement. Each exemption depends on approval from a named official: the county chief of police for county law enforcement vehicles, the director of law enforcement, or the chairperson of the board of land and natural resources.

The rest of Hawaii's lighting law sits in Part II of chapter 291 and is mostly about the factory lamps rather than about add-ons. HRS §291-25(a) requires at least two lighted white headlamps of equal candle power from thirty minutes after sunset to thirty minutes before sunrise, mounted not less than twenty-two nor more than fifty-four inches above the road surface measured to the lamp centre, on a rigid part of the vehicle the manufacturer designed for headlamp installation. It then caps output: measured one hundred feet directly ahead at a height of sixty inches, the light must not exceed two thousand four hundred apparent candle power, and measured one hundred feet ahead but seven feet or more to the left of the vehicle's axis at the same height, it must not exceed eight hundred apparent candle power. Motorcycles, motor scooters and motorized bicycles need one white headlight under §291-25(b), mounted between twenty-four and fifty-four inches.

The provision that most directly governs aftermarket lighting hardware is §291-26. It says that all devices or adjustments used in connection with lights on motor vehicles to make them comply with the chapter "shall not be used until approved by the chief of police or the chief of police's authorized subordinate of the county wherein the vehicle is registered." The cost of testing is borne by the person submitting the device and "shall not exceed the sum of $50." No person may drive with an unapproved device or adjustment on the headlights. Because Hawaii has four county police departments and no municipal forces, that approval is sought from the Honolulu, Hawaii County, Maui or Kauai chief, depending on where the vehicle is registered. A second, state-level approval runs in parallel and catches the lamps themselves: HRS §286-83(a) names "any head lamp, auxiliary or fog lamp, rear lamp, signal lamps, or reflector, which reflector is required by law" among the items that may not be sold for vehicle use unless the type has been submitted to and approved by the director of transportation, and §286-83(c) bars using any such device without that approval. An aftermarket auxiliary or fog lamp therefore needs a DOT-approved type, and a violation of that Part is fined up to $1,000 under §286-82.

Spotlights get their own rule. HRS §291-30 prohibits the use of a spotlight "in any city, town, or village" at all, prohibits any use that shines into the eyes of drivers of approaching passing vehicles, and requires every spotlight in use to be turned off not less than two hundred feet from an approaching vehicle. Load lighting is covered by §291-28: a load extending four feet or more beyond the rear of the bed must carry a red light visible two hundred feet from the rear at night, or a red flag or cloth of not less than sixteen inches square at other times.

Hawaii splits its lighting penalties into two very different tiers, and the gap is the practical headline. 5 is punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both. Everything else in the lighting run is trivial by comparison: §291-32(b) fines a violation of §§291-25 to 291-31 at not more than $10, each violation is a separate offense, and a subsequent violation of the same provision within a one-year period is subject to twice the fine imposed on the prior conviction.

Note that §291-39, the chapter's enforcement section, confers police powers on the director of transportation and motor carrier safety officers only for the size, weight and load provisions in §§291-33 to 291-36, so lighting enforcement is left to police officers in the ordinary way. 5. Aftermarket headlamp devices installed without the §291-26 county approval are therefore exposed both to a citation and to a failed inspection, and a failed inspection means no certificate and no sticker.