Louisiana Dash Cams: Legal to Run, But the Windshield Exception List Has No Room for One

Two Louisiana statutes use the words dash camera, and neither of them regulates where a private motorist may put one. R.S. 40:2552, added by Acts 2021, No. 430, required that from January 1, 2022 any law enforcement vehicle whose dash camera can start recording automatically when the police emergency lights are activated must use that technology. R.S. 22:1482.2, added by Acts 2025, No. 19 and effective January 1, 2026, requires every insurer writing commercial motor vehicle policies in Louisiana, other than a surplus lines insurer, to give an actuarially justified discount on the liability portion of the premium for each commercial vehicle running a dash camera paired with a telematics system.

That insurance section is worth reading even if you drive a private car, because it contains the state's only statutory definition of the device: a "dashboard camera" is a dashboard-mounted video recording device capable of continuous loop recording with a minimum resolution of 1080p, designed to capture footage of the road ahead of the vehicle. A telematics system is defined separately as a device or software collecting and transmitting real-time data on speed, braking and mileage. To hold the discount the camera must be installed and operational at issuance or renewal, meet technical standards prescribed by the commissioner of insurance, and stay in continuous use, verified annually by a telematics summary report or a signed affidavit; letting it lapse forfeits the discount at the next renewal. The discount reaches bodily injury and property damage liability coverage only, and "commercial motor vehicle" carries the meaning given in R.S. 32:401, so a personal vehicle does not qualify.

The mounting question is answered by the windshield statute instead. R.S. 32:361.1(B) says that except as provided in Subsection C, no person may operate a motor vehicle with any object or material placed on or affixed to the front windshield or to the front side windows so as to obstruct or reduce the driver's clear view. Subsection C is a closed list of four exceptions and it is worth checking a camera against each of them. Paragraph (1) covers a sun screening device at stated light transmission percentages, which a camera is not. Paragraph (2) covers a transparent material, not red or amber in colour, affixed to the topmost portion of the windshield and extending no more than five inches down; a camera housing is not transparent material. Paragraph (3) covers an adjustable nontransparent sun visor mounted forward of the side windows and expressly not attached to the glass. Paragraph (4) covers publicly owned law enforcement vehicles, including those used by the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Louisiana grants no general "behind the rearview mirror" or "lower corner of the windshield" allowance of the kind several other states write into their obstruction statutes, so there is no gap for a suction cup to sit in.

The safety inspection reinforces the same answer. Louisiana still requires a current inspection certificate on every registered vehicle under R.S. 32:1301, and the State Police inspection rule at LAC 55:III.813.EE states that the windshield, rear glass and all windows must be present with no obstructions and in working order as originally equipped, except as provided in Paragraphs S.6, S.7 or S.8 of that Section. Those three paragraphs are the sun screening exceptions and the medical and security tint affidavits; none of them is about a camera. A mechanic inspector applying that rule literally can reject a car for a device stuck on the glass, and a rejected vehicle gets one free re-inspection at the same station within thirty days under LAC 55:III.827.

Audio is governed separately and is permissive. Louisiana is a one-party consent state: R.S. 15:1303(C)(4) makes it lawful for a person not acting under colour of law to intercept a wire, electronic or oral communication where that person is a party to it or where one party has given prior consent, unless the recording is made to commit a criminal or tortious act. R.S. 15:1302(17) narrows the protected category further by defining an oral communication as one uttered by a person exhibiting an expectation that it is not subject to interception under circumstances justifying that expectation. A driver recording conversations inside their own car, or a roadside exchange with an officer standing at the window, is a party to the conversation and falls inside the exemption.

There is no dash camera offence in Louisiana. What is charged is the windshield offence. S. S. 32:57. S. S. 32:1304(D)(1) also lets the secretary suspend the registration of a vehicle for which a required certificate has not been obtained. S. S. 22:1969, and a policyholder who lets the camera or telematics system fall out of use simply forfeits the discount at renewal until compliance is proved.