Maine Auxiliary Lights: Steady Beam Only, White or Amber Front, No Under-Glow on a Public Way

Maine does not leave aftermarket lighting to a general "no distracting lights" clause. Section 1909-B of Title 29-A, added by PL 2005, c. 183, §1, is a purpose-built rule for optional auxiliary lighting, and it borrows its definition from the emergency-light section: under §2054(1)(C) an "auxiliary light" is a light other than standard equipment lighting such as headlights, taillights, directional signals, brake lights, clearance lights, parking lights and license plate lights, that is displayed on a vehicle and used to increase the operator's visibility of the road or the visibility of the vehicle to other operators and pedestrians. That definition is broad enough to catch light bars, rock lights, ditch lights, bumper pods, chase lights and grille strobes, and §1909-B(1) says a vehicle may be equipped with or display such a light only if it conforms to the section, except as otherwise provided by §2054 and any other law or rule.

Colour is fixed by position rather than by product. Section 1909-B(2) permits white or amber at the front, amber on the side, and amber or red on the rear. There is no green, purple or blue option for a private vehicle anywhere in the section. Motion is barred outright: §1909-B(3) requires a steady beam and states the light may not blink, oscillate, rotate or flash. Brightness is measured against the vehicle's own required equipment rather than against a lumen number, because §1909-B(4) prohibits a beam that is brighter than, has a greater candlepower than, or distracts from the visibility of the standard lighting equipment required by Title 29-A or by the inspection rules the Chief of the State Police adopts under §1769. Section 1909-B(5) adds that an auxiliary light may not be installed in a manner or a place that distracts or impairs the vision of the operator, which is what usually catches an A-pillar pod or a hood-mounted lamp.

Under-vehicle lighting gets its own definition and its own answer. Section 1909-B(6) defines it as a lighting device or lamp, including but not limited to a neon or fluorescent tube, installed under the chassis and designed to illuminate and reflect from the surface beneath the vehicle. Maine allows a vehicle to be equipped with it for the purpose of participating in shows, events or other exhibitions, then closes the loop: the lighting may not be used, and the vehicle may not be illuminated with it, on a public way. Fitting is legal, switching it on in traffic is not.

Colour restrictions outside §1909-B tighten the picture further. Under 29-A MRS §2054(2)(D) a vehicle may not be equipped with or display a blue light at all, subject to five listed exceptions: blue or blue-and-white emergency lights on police vehicles and on vehicles operated by a chief of police, sheriff or deputy sheriff and certain Department of Corrections and court-security vehicles; a single rearward-facing blue light on an ambulance, emergency medical service vehicle, fire department vehicle or hazardous material response vehicle; a blue or purple taillight insert of not more than one inch in diameter on a pre-1952 vehicle or replica registered under §457; blue interior auxiliary lighting or dash lighting where no portion of the beam is visible at a height of 42 inches above the surface the vehicle stands on, measured 20 feet from any part of the vehicle; and Department of Public Safety vehicles, whose blue lighting and siren may be used only when a law enforcement officer is driving. Red is likewise reserved by §2054(2)(F) to ambulances, emergency medical service vehicles, fire and rescue vehicles, hazardous material response vehicles, police vehicles, school buses, rural mail vehicles and individually authorised firefighters, emergency medical service members and harbor masters, whose windshield or dashboard light must be shielded so the emitted light does not interfere with the operator's vision and whose authorisation may be revoked at any time by the fire chief, the service's chief official or the municipality. Spotlights sit in §2054(2)(G): any vehicle may carry one, but only authorized emergency vehicles, highway maintenance vehicles and public service vehicles may use one on a public way, and everyone else only in cases of necessity when other lights required by law fail.

Two neighbouring sections set the reference points a driver actually needs. Fog lights are governed by §1909-A: a motor vehicle may carry two on the front emitting amber or white light, provided the rays do not shine more than 2 feet above the road at a distance of 30 feet, and a fog light mounted higher than the center of the main headlights may not be illuminated while the vehicle is operated on a public way. Headlights themselves must sit between 22 and 54 inches measured from the center of the lamp under §1904(2), with snow plows exempted from the 54-inch ceiling, and must emit only white light under §1904(3). A roof-mounted light bar therefore cannot be justified as a headlight, and cannot be run as a fog light either, because it is above the headlight centreline.

Section 1909-B(7) is the enforcement clause: a person who operates a motor vehicle equipped with, illuminated by, displaying or using an auxiliary light in violation of the section commits a traffic infraction. Note that the offence reaches equipping and displaying, not only switching on, so an off-colour or flashing lamp fitted to the front of the vehicle is chargeable even while dark, with the single exception Maine writes for under-vehicle lighting kept for shows and exhibitions. Because the brightness test in §1909-B(4) is tied to the inspection rules the Chief of the State Police adopts under §1769, a noncompliant lamp is also a rejection item at the annual Maine motor vehicle inspection, and the vehicle will not receive a sticker until it is removed or brought into conformity.

Displaying blue light without one of the §2054(2)(D) exceptions or red light without one of the §2054(2)(F) authorisations goes further than the lighting rules alone, because those colours are the statutory markers of an authorized emergency vehicle. For firefighters, emergency medical service members and harbor masters who hold an individual authorisation, the light privilege may be revoked at any time by the fire chief, the chief official of the emergency medical service, or the municipality.