Vermont Defines a Legal Mount as One Not Stuck to the Windshield

Vermont approached this from the phone side rather than the camera side. When the Legislature banned handheld device use, it had to say what a legal cradle looks like, and 23 V.S.A. § 1095b(a)(3) defines "securely mounted" as an accessory specifically designed or built to support hands-free use "that is not affixed to the windshield in violation of section 1125 of this title," and that either is used according to manufacturer specifications or holds the device completely stationary under typical driving conditions. That cross-reference is the whole rule: Vermont's mounting standard is defined by its windshield obstruction statute.

Section 1125(b) supplies the closed list. On the windshield you may have a space not over four inches high and 12 inches long in the lower right-hand corner; whatever space the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles designates for a sticker required by governmental regulation; a space not over two inches high and two and one-half inches long in the upper left-hand corner; necessary equipment placed behind the windshield by a government employee or volunteer emergency responder operating an authorized emergency vehicle; dealer stickers on a car held for sale; and a rearview mirror or an electronic toll-collection transponder located between the roof line and the mirror post or behind the mirror. The Legislature named the toll transponder specifically, which shows it knew how to carve out a windshield-mounted electronic device when it wanted to. It did not carve out a camera.

One branch of § 1125(a) is softer and matters for hanging mounts. The prohibition on items hung in back of the glass "shall apply only when a hanging item materially obstructs the driver's view." A camera adhered to the glass gets no such qualifier; a camera on a bracket hanging behind the mirror is judged by whether it materially blocks the view. The safest reading, and the one a Vermont inspection mechanic applies, is that adhesive and suction mounts on the glass are out and a low dashboard position is in.

The annual inspection reinforces it. Under 23 V.S.A. § 1222(a) nearly every registered Vermont vehicle goes through a safety and visual emissions inspection each year, and the Periodic Inspection Manual, form VN-113 revision 3/2026, tells the mechanic to reject a vehicle if "Any nontransparent matter is present on any transparent part of the motor vehicle's windshield," listing only the same lower-right four-by-twelve space, the government-required sticker location, and the upper-left two-by-two-and-a-half space as exceptions. The manual's own exception list is even narrower than the statute's, since it does not repeat the mirror and transponder allowance. A camera body glued to the glass is nontransparent matter.

If the camera is your phone, the handheld rule applies on top. Section 1095b(b)(1) bars using a portable electronic device while operating a moving vehicle, and also on a public highway while the vehicle is stationary in traffic or at a light. "Portable electronic device" is defined at 23 V.S.A. § 4(82) as a portable electronic or computing device including a cellular telephone, PDA, or laptop. The exceptions in § 1095b(b)(2) cover hands-free use, activating or deactivating hands-free use on a securely mounted device, communicating with law enforcement or emergency services under emergency circumstances, an ignition interlock, a navigation system installed by the manufacturer or securely mounted, and use after the driver has pulled off the highway and halted somewhere the vehicle can lawfully stay. Starting a recording app therefore has to happen before you drive, or after you have stopped.

On the audio side Vermont is unusually permissive, and that is a structural fact rather than an express permission. A full-text read of all 77 chapters of Title 13 turns up no wiretapping, eavesdropping, or all-party-consent recording offence at all. The only recording crime in the title is voyeurism at 13 V.S.A. § 2605, which reaches intimate areas and surveillance where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, and it expressly does not apply to a law enforcement officer conducting official law enforcement activities. A dash cam capturing the cabin of your own car does not meet that description.

The mounting rule is enforced through two different penalty tracks. chapter 29. 00 for a second or subsequent violation within any two-year period. 00 for a repeat, and the driver takes four points for a first conviction and five for a second. Outside those zones the conviction carries two points. § 2505 requires the Commissioner to start suspension proceedings once a driver reaches 10 points in a two-year period, with § 2506 setting the suspension at 10 days for 10 points, 30 days for 15, and 90 days for 20.

Section 1095b(d)(2) limits the exposure in one respect: a driver cannot be issued more than one complaint arising from the same incident under § 1095b, § 1095a, and § 1099 combined.