Emergency lighting thread

[Boogeyman Con Carne]

I am considering putting emergency lighting on my 1961 Superior limo style endloader, and looked up the state laws on them pertaining to privately owned vehicles. I'd like to start a thread dealing with this and the legalities concerning them. I would appreciate it if everyone could find the statutes in their own state and post them here so everyone who visits can be informed. Plase make sure you have the full designation so the cop can't question where you got it from... For example, Texas:

§ 547.305. RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF LIGHTS. (a) A motor
vehicle lamp or illuminating device, other than a headlamp,
spotlamp, auxiliary lamp, turn signal lamp, or emergency vehicle or
school bus warning lamp, that projects a beam with an intensity
brighter than 300 candlepower shall be directed so that no part of
the high-intensity portion of the beam strikes the roadway at a
distance of more than 75 feet from the vehicle.
(b) Except as expressly authorized by law, a person may not
operate or move equipment or a vehicle, other than a police vehicle,
with a lamp or device that displays a red light visible from
directly in front of the center of the equipment or vehicle.
(c) A person may not operate a motor vehicle equipped with a
red, white, or blue beacon, flashing, or alternating light unless
the equipment is:
(1) used as specifically authorized by this chapter;
or
(2) a running lamp, headlamp, taillamp, backup lamp,
or turn signal lamp that is used as authorized by law.
(d) A vehicle may be equipped with alternately flashing
lighting equipment described by Section 547.701 or 547.702 only if
the vehicle is:
(1) a school bus;
(2) an authorized emergency vehicle;
(3) a church bus that has the words "church bus"
printed on the front and rear of the bus so as to be clearly
discernable to other vehicle operators;
(4) a tow truck while under the direction of a law
enforcement officer at the scene of an accident or while hooking up
to a disabled vehicle on a roadway; or
(5) a tow truck with a mounted light bar which has turn
signals and stop lamps in addition to those required by Sections
547.322, 547.323, and 547.324, Transportation Code.
(e) A person may not operate highway maintenance or service
equipment, including snow-removal equipment, that is not equipped
with lamps or that does not display lighted lamps as required by the
standards and specifications adopted by the Texas Department of
Transportation.
(f) In this section "tow truck" means a motor vehicle or
mechanical device that is adapted or used to tow, winch, or move a
disabled vehicle.

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995. Amended
by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 380, § 1, eff. July 1, 1999.

[Chaser]

Here is Missouri's

Missouri Revised Statutes
Chapter 307
Vehicle Equipment Regulations
Section 307.095

August 28, 2007




Colors of various lamps--restriction of red lights, penalty.
307.095. 1. Headlamps, when lighted, shall exhibit lights substantially white in color; auxiliary lamps, cowllamps and spotlamps, when lighted, shall exhibit lights substantially white, yellow or amber in color. No person shall drive or move any vehicle or equipment, except a school bus when used for school purposes or an emergency vehicle upon any street or highway with any lamp or device thereon displaying a red light visible from directly in front thereof.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 307.120, violation of this section is an infraction.

(L. 1941 p. 438 § 8386f, A.L. 1955 p. 625, A.L. 1996 H.B. 1047)
*Transferred 1969; formerly 304.420



Missouri Revised Statutes
Chapter 307
Vehicle Equipment Regulations
Section 307.175

August 28, 2007




Sirens and flashing lights emergency use, persons authorized--violation, penalty.
307.175. Motor vehicles and equipment which are operated by any member of an organized fire department, ambulance association, or rescue squad, whether paid or volunteer, may be operated on streets and highways in this state as an emergency vehicle under the provisions of section 304.022, RSMo, while responding to a fire call or ambulance call or at the scene of a fire call or ambulance call and while using or sounding a warning siren and using or displaying thereon fixed, flashing or rotating blue lights, but sirens and blue lights shall be used only in bona fide emergencies. Permits for the operation of such vehicles equipped with sirens or blue lights shall be in writing and shall be issued and may be revoked by the chief of an organized fire department, organized ambulance association, or rescue squad and no person shall use or display a siren or blue lights on a motor vehicle, fire, ambulance, or rescue equipment without a valid permit authorizing the use. A** permit to use a siren or lights as heretofore set out does not relieve the operator of the vehicle so equipped with complying with all other traffic laws and regulations. Violation of this section constitutes a class A misdemeanor.

(L. 1957 p. 623 § 1, A.L. 1971 H.B. 113, A.L. 1981 H.B. 183, A.L. 2004 S.B. 757 merged with S.B. 788)
Effective 6-25-04 (S.B. 757) 7-01-04 (S.B. 788)

*Transferred 1969; formerly 304.565

**Word "A" does not appear in original rolls.

[Chaser]

Found another part sorry


Missouri Revised Statutes
Chapter 304
Traffic Regulations
Section 304.022

August 28, 2007




Emergency vehicle defined--use of lights and sirens--right-of-way--stationary vehicles, procedure--penalty.
304.022. 1. Upon the immediate approach of an emergency vehicle giving audible signal by siren or while having at least one lighted lamp exhibiting red light visible under normal atmospheric conditions from a distance of five hundred feet to the front of such vehicle or a flashing blue light authorized by section 307.175, RSMo, the driver of every other vehicle shall yield the right-of-way and shall immediately drive to a position parallel to, and as far as possible to the right of, the traveled portion of the highway and thereupon stop and remain in such position until such emergency vehicle has passed, except when otherwise directed by a police or traffic officer.

2. Upon approaching a stationary emergency vehicle displaying lighted red or red and blue lights, the driver of every motor vehicle shall:

(1) Proceed with caution and yield the right-of-way, if possible with due regard to safety and traffic conditions, by making a lane change into a lane not adjacent to that of the stationary vehicle, if on a roadway having at least four lanes with not less than two lanes proceeding in the same direction as the approaching vehicle; or

(2) Proceed with due caution and reduce the speed of the vehicle, maintaining a safe speed for road conditions, if changing lanes would be unsafe or impossible.

3. The motorman of every streetcar shall immediately stop such car clear of any intersection and keep it in such position until the emergency vehicle has passed, except as otherwise directed by a police or traffic officer.

4. An "emergency vehicle" is a vehicle of any of the following types:

(1) A vehicle operated by the state highway patrol, the state water patrol, the Missouri capitol police, a conservation agent, or a state park ranger, those vehicles operated by enforcement personnel of the state highways and transportation commission, police or fire department, sheriff, constable or deputy sheriff, federal law enforcement officer authorized to carry firearms and to make arrests for violations of the laws of the United States, traffic officer or coroner or by a privately owned emergency vehicle company;

(2) A vehicle operated as an ambulance or operated commercially for the purpose of transporting emergency medical supplies or organs;

(3) Any vehicle qualifying as an emergency vehicle pursuant to section 307.175, RSMo;

(4) Any wrecker, or tow truck or a vehicle owned and operated by a public utility or public service corporation while performing emergency service;

(5) Any vehicle transporting equipment designed to extricate human beings from the wreckage of a motor vehicle;

(6) Any vehicle designated to perform emergency functions for a civil defense or emergency management agency established pursuant to the provisions of chapter 44, RSMo;

(7) Any vehicle operated by an authorized employee of the department of corrections who, as part of the employee's official duties, is responding to a riot, disturbance, hostage incident, escape or other critical situation where there is the threat of serious physical injury or death, responding to mutual aid call from another criminal justice agency, or in accompanying an ambulance which is transporting an offender to a medical facility;

(8) Any vehicle designated to perform hazardous substance emergency functions established pursuant to the provisions of sections 260.500 to 260.550, RSMo.

5. (1) The driver of any vehicle referred to in subsection 4 of this section shall not sound the siren thereon or have the front red lights or blue lights on except when such vehicle is responding to an emergency call or when in pursuit of an actual or suspected law violator, or when responding to, but not upon returning from, a fire.

(2) The driver of an emergency vehicle may:

(a) Park or stand irrespective of the provisions of sections 304.014 to 304.025;

(b) Proceed past a red or stop signal or stop sign, but only after slowing down as may be necessary for safe operation;

(c) Exceed the prima facie speed limit so long as the driver does not endanger life or property;

(d) Disregard regulations governing direction of movement or turning in specified directions.

(3) The exemptions granted to an emergency vehicle pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection shall apply only when the driver of any such vehicle while in motion sounds audible signal by bell, siren, or exhaust whistle as may be reasonably necessary, and when the vehicle is equipped with at least one lighted lamp displaying a red light or blue light visible under normal atmospheric conditions from a distance of five hundred feet to the front of such vehicle.

6. No person shall purchase an emergency light as described in this section without furnishing the seller of such light an affidavit stating that the light will be used exclusively for emergency vehicle purposes.

7. Violation of this section shall be deemed a class A misdemeanor.

(L. 1953 p. 587 § 304.020, A.L. 1969 p. 418, A.L. 1971 H.B. 113, A.L. 1981 H.B. 183, A.L. 1986 S.B. 523 merged with H.B. 1428, A.L. 1991 S.B. 265, A.L. 1995 H.B. 424, A.L. 1996 H.B. 1047 merged with H.B. 1369, A.L. 1997 H.B. 244, A.L. 2002 H.B. 1270 and H.B. 2032, A.L. 2004 S.B. 757 merged with S.B. 788, A.L. 2005 H.B. 353 merged with H.B. 487 merged with H.B. 618, A.L. 2006 S.B. 872, et al., A.L. 2007 S.B. 82 merged with S.B. 352)
(2006) Section does not abolish, abrogate, provide, or in any way modify common law doctrine of official immunity. Davis v. Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, 193 S.W.3d 760 (Mo.banc).