Rhode Island Caps Front Lamps at Four and Restricts Flashing Beams to a Named List

The chapter works by naming each auxiliary lamp and fixing its number, position and aim. Section 31-24-16 allows any motor vehicle not more than two (2) spot lamps, 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 is directed to the left of the prolongation of the extreme left side of the vehicle, nor more than one hundred feet (100') ahead. Section 31-24-17 allows not more than two (2) road lamps or fog lamps, requires them to be rigidly affixed below the level of the head lamps, and requires the aim so that no part of the high-intensity portion of the beam rises more than eighteen inches (18") above the ground at a distance of seventy-five feet (75') or more in front of the vehicle, or is directed left of the prolongation of the extreme left side of the vehicle. That section closes with a flat rule that fog lamps and road lamps shall not be used in lieu of head lamps.

Three smaller allowances complete the list. Section 31-24-18 permits not more than two (2) side cowl or fender lamps emitting an amber or white light without glare. Section 31-24-19 permits not more than one running board courtesy lamp on each side, again amber or white without glare. Section 31-24-20 permits not more than two (2) backup lamps, separately or combined with other lamps, and forbids lighting a backup lamp while the vehicle is in forward motion.

The aggregate cap is the rule most likely to catch a modified truck. Under § 31-24-28, whenever a vehicle equipped with the head lamps this chapter requires also carries auxiliary lamps, a spot lamp or any other front lamp projecting a beam of intensity greater than three hundred (300) candle power, not more than a total of four (4) lamps on the front of the vehicle may be lighted at any one time on a highway. Two headlamps plus a two-lamp light bar reaches the ceiling; adding a pair of driving lights and switching everything on does not.

Section 31-24-29 governs everything else that glows. Any lighted lamp or illuminating device on a motor vehicle other than head lamps, spot lamps, auxiliary lamps or flashing front direction signals that projects a beam greater than three hundred (300) candle power must be directed so that no part of the beam strikes the level of the roadway on which the vehicle stands at a distance of more than seventy-five feet (75') from the vehicle. Rhode Island never wrote a section naming underbody or accent lighting, so accessory lighting is measured against this intensity and aim rule, against the color bans, and against the DMV approval requirement rather than against a dedicated provision.

Color is tightly controlled. Section 31-24-30 forbids driving or moving any vehicle or equipment on a highway with any lamp or device displaying a red light visible from directly in front of the center of it, unless a red forward-facing light is expressly authorized or required for that vehicle by chapters 1 through 27 of the title. Section 31-24-31(a) prohibits flashing lights except on an authorized emergency vehicle, a school bus, snow removal equipment, or as a turn indicator. Subsection (b) then lists exactly who may install forward viewing or rotating beam lights and in what color: red, white or alternating flashing white for fire, rescue and ambulance vehicles, chiefs and authorized volunteer members, emergency management directors, assistant medical examiners and forensic pathologists, Department of Environmental Management and State Fire Marshal response vehicles, school buses, hospital emergency vehicles and two American Red Cross disaster vehicles; amber for wreckers, service station trucks, state and town maintenance vehicles, snowplows and tractors, utility trucks, vehicles of television, radio and press photographers, newspaper motor route carriers, rural mail carriers, Northern Rhode Island REACT vehicles, vehicles owned by or under contract to the Rhode Island Department of Transportation on official state business, and vehicles marking the beginning and end of funeral processions; and blue or red for state and local police units. Wreckers and transportation vehicles licensed by the Public Utilities Commission, and American Automobile Association roadside assistance vehicles, may run flashing amber front and rear but only while actually assisting or transporting a disabled vehicle. A flashing lights permit costs twenty-five dollars ($25), waived for state, town and fire district safety and maintenance vehicles.

A separate approval layer sits over the whole chapter. Section 31-24-49 provides that no person shall sell, offer for sale or use on a vehicle any head lamp, auxiliary or fog lamp, rear lamp, signal lamp or required reflector, or parts of them that tend to change the original design or performance, unless of a type submitted to and approved by the administrator of the Division of Motor Vehicles. Section 31-24-47 empowers the administrator to set standards conforming so far as possible to Society of Automotive Engineers specifications, to issue certificates of approval, and to publish lists of approved lamps by name and type. Section 31-24-51 then requires those lamps to be mounted and adjusted for focus and aim in accordance with the administrator's instructions. Section 31-24-1 sets when the required lamps must be lit: from sunset to sunrise, whenever windshield wipers are in use because of rain, sleet, snow, hail or other unfavorable conditions, and whenever visibility falls below five hundred feet (500').

Chapter 31-24 is enforced as a single line in the traffic-tribunal schedule. Section 31-41.1-4 lists sections 31-24-1 through 31-24-54 together at a fine of one hundred dollars ($100.00), so a lamp count violation, an aim violation, a red-to-the-front violation and an unpermitted flashing light are all priced the same and can be paid administratively through the Traffic Tribunal.

Installing the offending lamp is charged separately and far more heavily. Section 31-23-2(b) forbids installing or adjusting equipment that would make the vehicle or its operation inconsistent with chapters 31-23 or 31-24, and prices it at two hundred fifty dollars ($250) for a first violation, five hundred dollars ($500) for a second and one thousand dollars ($1,000) for a third and subsequent violations, figures the § 31-41.1-4 schedule repeats.

Equipment enforcement runs through inspection. Section 31-38-2 lets the Director of Revenue, state and local police and designated Division of Motor Vehicles staff require a driver to stop and submit the vehicle to inspection at any time, issue a written notice requiring correction and approval within five (5) days, and, on three notices for the same defect within twelve months, forces the Director to suspend the vehicle's registration. At the periodic inspection itself, § 3.5.17 of the Official Manual for Vehicle Inspection, 280-RICR-30-15-3, requires headlamps to be of a DMV-approved type with no modification changing original design or performance, mounted between 24 and 54 inches measured from the center of the lamp, emitting clear white light, and makes colored or tinted lenses and a noticeably off-center beam causes for rejection. Section 3.5.4(E)(4) of the same manual makes any body item or attachment that obstructs a required lighting device a cause for rejection.

Section 31-23-11.1 governs the volunteer permit route for warning lights on privately owned vehicles. A joint committee, three members appointed by the president of the Rhode Island Association of Fire Chiefs and two by the president of the Rhode Island Association of Police Chiefs, sets the procedures for issuing, transferring and revoking permit stickers, the rules for using warning lights and minimum driver training standards. The department must own the lights, the chief must maintain a register of the vehicles they are issued for and remove permits on transfer of ownership, and an authorized volunteer may use the lights only within the department's jurisdiction while responding to an emergency or protecting a scene.