Wyoming Judges a Dash Cam by Whether It Materially Obstructs the View, With No List of Allowed Objects

Two sections govern anything mounted to the glass or the dash of a Wyoming vehicle, and they work differently from the closed-list approach used in states like Florida and Texas.

The first is W.S. 31-5-955(a). It prohibits driving any motor vehicle with any sign, poster or other material or substance upon or crack within the front windshield, side or rear windows of the vehicle which materially obstructs, obscures or impairs the driver's clear view of the highway or any intersecting highway. Three features of that drafting matter for a camera. It reaches the side and rear windows as well as the windshield, so a rear-facing camera suckered to the back glass is inside the section. It sets a materiality standard rather than an area, an inch measurement or an enumerated exemption, which means no Wyoming statute says a dash cam is permitted and none says it is prohibited: the question is factual and is decided by the officer in the first instance and the court in the second. And it puts cracks in the same sentence as attached objects, so the identical test governs a windscreen chip and a camera mount, which is unusual and worth knowing before assuming a crack is a separate offence.

The rest of W.S. 31-5-955 is about wipers. Subsection (b) requires every motor vehicle windshield to have a device for cleaning rain, snow or other moisture, constructed to be controlled or operated by the driver, and applies that to multipurpose vehicles as defined in W.S. 31-1-101(a)(xv)(M) when they have a windshield and an enclosed cab. Subsection (c) requires every motor vehicle to have a windshield and a windshield wiper maintained in good working order. A mount that fouls the swept area is therefore working against two provisions at once.

The second section is W.S. 31-5-961, headed television receivers and electronic displays. Subsection (a) says no motor vehicle operated on Wyoming highways shall be equipped with television-type receiving equipment so located that the viewer or screen is visible from the driver's seat. Subsection (b) exempts equipment used exclusively for safety or law enforcement purposes, provided the use is approved by the highway department. Subsection (c) says the section does not prohibit the use of electronic displays used in conjunction with vehicle navigation systems. A dash cam that only records has no receiving function and no screen the driver watches, so it does not engage subsection (a) at all. A camera with a live preview screen positioned so the driver can watch it is the configuration to think twice about, because subsection (c) protects navigation displays specifically and does not extend to a rear-view camera monitor by name.

Wyoming's general permission clause sits behind both. W.S. 31-5-901(b) provides that nothing in the equipment act prohibits equipment required by the United States Department of Transportation, nor the use of additional parts and accessories on any vehicle not inconsistent with the act. That is the provision that makes an accessory lawful by default, and W.S. 31-5-955(a) is the specific rule it must not be inconsistent with.

Two related provisions shape where a camera can sit. W.S. 31-5-962(c), the sunscreening section, treats the band above the AS-1 line, or the top five inches of the windshield where that is closer to the top, as the strip Wyoming permits to be tinted, which is the same band most drivers use for a camera tucked behind the mirror. W.S. 31-5-954 requires a mirror on the left side reflecting the highway to the rear, plus a second mirror either inside approximately in the centre or outside on the right, so a mount that blocks the interior mirror's own view creates a second problem under that section rather than under W.S. 31-5-955.

Operating the camera is a separate question from mounting it, and Wyoming's distracted driving law is narrow. W.S. 31-5-237(a) prohibits operating a motor vehicle on a public street or highway while using a handheld electronic wireless communication device to write, send or read a text-based communication, with exceptions for a lawfully parked vehicle, contacting an emergency response vehicle, entering or selecting a phone number or name to make or receive a call, and voice operated or hands free technology. W.S. 31-5-237(d)(i) defines the device as a mobile communication device using short-wave analog or digital radio or satellite transmissions to permit wireless telephone communications, which a recording-only dash cam is not. The penalty in W.S. 31-5-237(c) is a misdemeanour fine of not more than $75.

Audio is worth a word because most dash cams capture it. Wyoming is a one-party-consent state: W.S. 7-3-702(b)(iv) exempts a person who is a party to a communication, or who has one party's prior consent, from the interception prohibition. A driver recording their own cabin is a party. A camera left running to capture a conversation among passengers when the owner is not present is a different case, because W.S. 7-3-701(a)(xi) reaches speech the speaker reasonably expects will not be intercepted, and W.S. 7-3-702(f) makes an unlawful interception a felony punishable by up to $1,000 and five years.

There is no inspection lane to fail, because Wyoming operates no periodic motor vehicle safety inspection. A windshield obstruction becomes an issue at a traffic stop or after a crash. S. 31-5-901(a) makes it a misdemeanour for any person to drive or move, or for the owner to cause or knowingly permit to be driven or moved, a vehicle equipped in any manner in violation of the equipment act, so both driver and registered owner are exposed. S. S. 31-5-1201(b) sets the fine at not more than $200 for a first conviction, not more than $300 for a second conviction of the same offence within one year, and not more than $500 or up to six months in jail, or both, for a third or subsequent conviction of the same offence within one year of the first.

S. 31-5-1201(c) keeps prior convictions out of the trial and admits them only afterwards on sentencing. S. S. 31-5-954, are what the argument is made of. S. 31-5-102(a)(xxxiii).