41-6a-1604.  Motor vehicle head lamps, tail lamps, stop lamps, and other lamps — Requirements — Penalty.

(1)  A motor vehicle shall be equipped with at least two head lamps with at least one on each side of the front of the motor vehicle.

Terms Used In Utah Code 41-6a-1604

  • Department: means the Department of Public Safety. See Utah Code 41-6a-102
  • Motor vehicle: means a vehicle that is self-propelled and a vehicle that is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but not operated upon rails. See Utah Code 41-6a-102
  • Pole trailer: means a vehicle without motive power:
(a) designed to be drawn by another vehicle and attached to the towing vehicle by means of a reach, or pole, or by being boomed or otherwise secured to the towing vehicle; and
(b) that is ordinarily used for transporting long or irregular shaped loads including poles, pipes, or structural members generally capable of sustaining themselves as beams between the supporting connections. See Utah Code 41-6a-102
  • Roadway: means that portion of highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel. See Utah Code 41-6a-102
  • Semitrailer: means a vehicle with or without motive power:
    (i) designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle; and
    (ii) constructed so that some part of its weight and that of its load rests on or is carried by another vehicle. See Utah Code 41-6a-102
  • Trailer: means a vehicle with or without motive power designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and constructed so that no part of its weight rests upon the towing vehicle. See Utah Code 41-6a-102
  • Vehicle: means a device in, on, or by which a person or property is or may be transported or drawn on a highway, except a mobile carrier, as defined in Section 41-6a-1120, or a device used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks. See Utah Code 41-6a-102
  • (2) 

    (a)  A motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, 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 and two or more red reflectors mounted on the rear.

    (b) 

    (i)  Except as provided under Subsections (2)(b)(ii), (2)(c), and Section 41-6a-1612, all stop lamps or other lamps and reflectors mounted on the rear of a vehicle shall display or reflect a red color.

    (ii)  A turn signal or hazard warning light may be red or yellow.

    (c)  Either a tail lamp or a separate lamp shall be so constructed and placed as to illuminate with a white light the rear registration plate.

    (3) 

    (a)  A motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, and pole trailer shall be equipped with two or more stop lamps and flashing turn signals.

    (b)  A supplemental stop lamp may be mounted on the rear of a vehicle, if the supplemental stop lamp:

    (i)  emits a red light;

    (ii)  is mounted:

    (A)  and constructed so that no light emitted from the device, either direct or reflected, is visible to the driver;

    (B)  not lower than 15 inches above the roadway; and

    (C)  on the vertical center line of the vehicle; and

    (iii)  is the size, design, and candle power that conforms to federal standards regulating stop lamps.

    (4) 

    (a)  Each head lamp, tail lamp, supplemental stop lamp, flashing turn lamp, other lamp, or reflector required under this part shall comply with the requirements and limitations established under Section 41-6a-1601.

    (b)  The department, by rules made under Section 41-6a-1601, may require trucks, buses, motor homes, motor vehicles with truck-campers, trailers, semitrailers, and pole trailers to have additional lamps and reflectors.

    (5)  The department, by rules made under Section 41-6a-1601, may allow:

    (a)  one tail lamp on any vehicle equipped with only one when it was made;

    (b)  one stop lamp on any vehicle equipped with only one when it was made; and

    (c)  passenger cars and trucks with a width less than 80 inches and manufactured or assembled prior to January 1, 1953, need not be equipped with electric turn signal lamps.

    (6) 

    (a)  As used in this section, “continuously flashing light system” means a light system for a supplemental stop lamp described in Subsection (3)(b) in which the stop lamp or reflector pulses rapidly for no more than five seconds when the brake is applied and then converts to a continuous light as a normal stop lamp or reflector until the time that the brake is released.

    (b)  A motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, and pole trailer may be equipped with a continuously flashing light system.

    (7)  A violation of this section is an infraction.

    Amended by Chapter 83, 2017 General Session