Connecticut General Statutes 14-96c – Tail lamps. Illumination of rear registration plate
(a) After October 1, 1967, every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer and pole trailer, and any other vehicle which is being drawn at the end of a combination of vehicles, shall be equipped with at least two tail lamps mounted on the rear, which, when lighted as required in subsection (a) of § 14-96a, shall emit a red light plainly visible from a distance of one thousand feet to the rear, except that passenger cars manufactured or assembled prior to October 1, 1957, and motorcycles shall have at least one such tail lamp. On a combination of vehicles, only the tail lamps on the rearmost vehicle need actually be seen from the distance specified. On vehicles equipped with more than one tail lamp, the lamps shall be mounted on the same level and as widely spaced laterally as practicable.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 14-96c
- Manufacturer: means (A) a person, whether a resident or nonresident, engaged in the business of constructing or assembling new motor vehicles of a type required to be registered by the commissioner, for operation upon any highway, except a utility trailer, which are offered for sale in this state, or (B) a person who distributes new motor vehicles to new car dealers licensed in this state. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Pole trailer: means a trailer which is (A) intended for transporting long or irregularly shaped loads such as poles, logs, pipes or structural members, which loads are capable of sustaining themselves as beams between supporting connections, and (B) designed to be drawn by a motor vehicle and attached or secured directly to the motor vehicle by any means including a reach, pole or boom. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Registration: includes the certificate of motor vehicle registration and the number plate or plates used in connection with such registration. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Semitrailer: means any trailer type vehicle designed and used in conjunction with a motor vehicle so that some part of its own weight and load rests on or is carried by another vehicle. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Tail lamp: means a lighting device affixed to the rear of a motor vehicle showing a red light to the rear and indicating the presence of the motor vehicle when viewed from behind. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Trailer: means any rubber-tired vehicle without motive power drawn or propelled by a motor vehicle. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Vehicle: includes any device suitable for the conveyance, drawing or other transportation of persons or property, whether operated on wheels, runners, a cushion of air or by any other means. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
(b) Every tail lamp upon every vehicle shall be located at a mounted height of not more than seventy-two inches nor less than fifteen inches.
(c) The rear registration plate shall be so illumined with a white light as to render it clearly legible from a distance of fifty feet to the rear. Any tail lamp or tail lamps, together with any separate lamp or lamps for illuminating the rear registration plate, shall be so wired as to be lighted whenever the head lamps or auxiliary driving lamps are lighted, except that any vehicle equipped by the manufacturer with daytime running lamps which meet federal requirements may have such daytime running lamps illuminated without illumination of the tail lamps or rear registration plate.
(d) Failure to have tail lamps or failure to illuminate the rear registration plate as required in this section shall be an infraction.