61-9-223. Lighting equipment on motor-driven cycles. The headlamp or headlamps upon every motor-driven cycle may be of the single-beam or multiple-beam type but in either event shall comply with the requirements and limitations as follows:

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Terms Used In Montana Code 61-9-223

  • Motor-driven cycle: means a motorcycle, including a motor scooter, with a motor that produces 5 horsepower or less. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, state agency, local government unit, another state government, the United States, a political subdivision of this or another state, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Montana Code 61-1-101
  • Vehicle: means a device in, on, or by which any person or property may be transported or drawn on a public highway, except devices moved by animal power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks. See Montana Code 61-1-101

(1)Every said headlamp or headlamps on a motor-driven cycle shall be of sufficient intensity to reveal a person or a vehicle at a distance of not less than 100 feet when the motor-driven cycle is operated at any speed less than 25 miles per hour and at a distance of not less than 200 feet when the motor-driven cycle is operated at a speed of 25 or more miles per hour, and at a distance of not less than 300 feet when the motor-driven cycle is operated at a speed of 35 or more miles per hour.

(2)In the event the motor-driven cycle is equipped with a multiple-beam headlamp or headlamps the upper beam shall meet the minimum requirements set forth above and shall not exceed the limitations set forth in 61-9-220(1) and the lowermost beam shall meet the requirements applicable to a lowermost distribution of light as set forth in 61-9-220(2).

(3)In the event the motor-driven cycle is equipped with a single-beam lamp or lamps, said lamp or lamps shall be so aimed that when the vehicle is loaded none of the high-intensity portion of light at a distance of 25 feet ahead shall project higher than the level of the center of the lamp from which it comes.