Vermont Statutes Title 23 Sec. 1243
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 23 Sec. 1243
- Commissioner: shall mean in this title only the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles. See
- Motor vehicle: includes all vehicles propelled or drawn by power other than muscular power, except farm tractors, vehicles running only upon stationary rails or tracks, motorized highway building equipment, road making appliances, snowmobiles, tracked vehicles, motor-assisted bicycles, electric bicycles, or electric personal assistive mobility devices. See
- Motor-driven cycle: means any vehicle equipped with two or three wheels, a power source providing up to a maximum of two brake horsepower and having a maximum piston or rotor displacement of 50 cubic centimeters if a combustion engine is used, which will propel the vehicle, unassisted, at a speed not to exceed 30 miles per hour on a level road surface, and that is equipped with a power drive system that functions directly or automatically only, not requiring clutching or shifting by the operator after the drive system is engaged. See
- Motorcycle: means any motor vehicle having a seat or saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground, and includes autocycles but excludes motor-driven cycles, motor-assisted bicycles, electric bicycles, golf carts, track driven vehicles, tractors, and electric personal assistive mobility devices. See
- Person: includes any natural person, corporation, association, co-partnership, company, firm, or other aggregation of individuals. See
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
§ 1243. Lights
(a) A motor vehicle, except a motorcycle and motor-driven cycle, in use or at rest on a highway, unless otherwise provided, during the period from 30 minutes after sunset to 30 minutes before sunrise, shall also be equipped with at least two lighted head lamps of substantially the same intensity and with reflectors and lenses of a design approved by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles and with a lighted tail or rear lamp of a design so approved. A motorcycle or motor-driven cycle may be operated during the period mentioned if equipped with at least one lighted head lamp and at least one lighted tail or rear lamp, both of a design approved by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles. A sidecar attached to such motorcycle or motor-driven cycle shall be equipped with a light on the right side of such sidecar visible from the front thereof. A person shall not operate a motor vehicle during the period mentioned unless it is equipped as defined in this section.
(b) Every vehicle upon a highway within this State, at any time from 30 minutes after sunset to 30 minutes before sunrise and at any other time when, due to insufficient light or unfavorable atmospheric conditions, persons or vehicles on the highway are not clearly discernible at a distance of 500 feet ahead, shall display lighted lamps and illuminating devices as respectively required for different classes of vehicles, subject to exceptions with respect to parked vehicles.
(c) Local regulations made and promulgated by the legislative bodies of municipalities govern within their respective municipalities with relation to the use of lights at night on motor vehicles at rest or in motion on well-lighted streets. Stop lights, turn signals, and other signaling devices shall be lighted as prescribed for their use. (Amended 1971, No. 258 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. March 1, 1973; 1977, No. 20, § 7; 2009, No. 152 (Adj. Sess.), § 19j, eff. Sept. 1, 2010.)