Nevada Auxiliary Lighting: Two Spot Lamps, Two Fog Lamps, Four Lit at Once

The spot lamp rule is about aim rather than height. NRS 484D.180(1) allows not more than two, and requires every lighted spot lamp to be aimed and used on approaching another vehicle so that no part of the high-intensity portion of the beam will strike the windshield, or any windows, mirror or occupant of a vehicle in use. That is a stricter test than a simple dip requirement, because it protects the mirrors and the occupants of the other car, not just the oncoming driver eyes.

Auxiliary driving lamps and auxiliary passing lamps are separate categories in Nevada with different mounting envelopes. Under NRS 484D.180(2) not more than two auxiliary driving lamps may be mounted on the front at a height of not less than 16 inches nor more than 42 inches above the level surface on which the vehicle stands. Under NRS 484D.180(3) not more than two auxiliary passing lamps may be mounted at not less than 24 inches nor more than 42 inches. Both subsections apply NRS 484D.210 to any combination of headlamps and those lamps, which means the combined beam pattern must still give an upper distribution revealing people and vehicles at 350 feet and a lower distribution reaching 100 feet without the high-intensity portion striking an approaching driver eyes.

Fog lamps get the most specific figures of all. NRS 484D.180(4) allows not more than two, mounted on the front at not less than 12 inches nor more than 30 inches above the level surface, and aimed so that with the vehicle unloaded none of the high-intensity portion of the light to the left of the centre of the vehicle projects, at 25 feet ahead, higher than a level 4 inches below the level of the centre of the lamp it comes from. A light bar slung under a bumper below 12 inches, or a pod set above 30 inches, is outside the fog-lamp allowance regardless of how it is aimed.

The count that catches most modified vehicles is NRS 484D.220(2). Whenever a motor vehicle equipped with headlamps also carries auxiliary lamps, a spot lamp, or any other lamp on the front projecting a beam of intensity greater than 300 candle power, not more than a total of four of those lamps may be lighted at one time on a highway. Two headlamps plus a pair of driving lamps reaches the limit, so a four-lamp light bar lit alongside the headlamps does not. The same section also caps colour temperature: NRS 484D.220(3) permits high-intensity discharge headlamps only where the correlated colour temperature is not less than 5,000 kelvins and not more than 6,000 kelvins, with subsection 4 disapplying that limit to the extent federal law preempts it and subsection 5 taking the definition of a high-intensity discharge lamp from 10 C.F.R. section 431.282. Nevada is one of few states to legislate a kelvin range for aftermarket HID conversions.

Colour is governed by NRS 484D.145. Front clearance, identification and marker lamps and reflectors mounted on the front or on the side near the front must display or reflect amber; the rear equivalents must display or reflect red. Subsection 3 goes further and requires all lighting devices and reflectors mounted on the rear of any vehicle to display or reflect red, with four exceptions: a stoplight or other signal device may be red, amber or yellow, the licence plate light must be white, a backup lamp must be white or amber, and a motorcycle tail lamp may contain a blue insert as authorized in NRS 486.261. NRS 484D.205 then enumerates what else a vehicle may add, and the list runs from not more than two side cowl or fender lamps emitting amber or white without glare, through one running-board courtesy lamp on each side, inside door-mounted red lamps visible to the rear when the doors are open, backup lamps that must not be lit while the vehicle is moving forward, hazard warning lamps flashing white or amber to the front and amber or red to the rear and visible at 500 feet in normal sunlight, and not more than two cornering lamps designed so no glaring light reaches an approaching driver. Underbody and ground-effect lighting appears nowhere in that enumeration, and nothing in chapter 484D authorises a rearward-facing lamp in any colour other than the four listed exceptions.

Flashing amber is a permit item in Nevada, not a free choice. NRS 484D.185(1) makes it unlawful to operate or display a flashing amber warning light except when an unusual traffic hazard exists or as authorized in NRS 484B.748, NRS 484B.757 or NRS 484D.190, and subsection 2 makes it unlawful to mount flashing amber warning lights permanently without a permit from the Nevada Highway Patrol. Subsection 3 lists the nine categories the Patrol must permit on written application: vehicles of public utilities, tow cars, vehicles engaged in activities creating a public hazard on the streets or highways, vehicles of coroners and their deputies, Civil Air Patrol rescue units, authorized sheriffs jeep squadrons, vehicles escorting funeral processions, food and beverage vendor vehicles under NRS 484D.190, and vehicles operated by private patrol officers licensed under chapter 648 of NRS or their employees. Permits expire on June 30 of each calendar year, and subsection 5 sets the fees at $2 for a single vehicle, $12 for a blanket permit covering more than 5 but fewer than 15 vehicles, and $24 for 15 vehicles or more, all deposited to the State Highway Fund. Subsection 6 exempts state, local and federal agencies from subsections 1 and 2.

Red lights and sirens draw a rule aimed squarely at out-of-state cars. NRS 484D.405(1) makes it unlawful to operate on Nevada public highways any out-of-state or foreign privately owned motor vehicle equipped with a red light or siren attached as part of the equipment of the vehicle, unless the vehicle is registered in a state with a reciprocal arrangement with the Department. Subsection 3 fixes a distinct civil penalty of not more than $250 for that violation, separate from the general infraction penalty that covers the rest of the lighting chapter.

230(1)(b) makes it unlawful to drive, move, stop or park a vehicle on a Nevada highway that is not equipped with lamps and other warning and signalling devices in the position, condition and adjustment the laws of this state require, and subsection 2 makes it unlawful to do any act forbidden, or fail to perform any act required, by those laws with respect to lamps. 0623, with the court free under subsection 4 to order a Department-approved traffic safety course or to reduce the penalty.

405(3) is the exception that declares its own figure, a civil penalty of not more than $250 for an out-of-state private vehicle carrying a red light or siren. Detection is roadside. 560(2) authorises a citation or notice of violation requiring the owner to produce satisfactory evidence that the equipment has been made to conform. 570(1)(a) bars further operation except to return the vehicle to the residence or place of business of the owner or driver, or to a garage. 7041.