Title 31, Title 31 and Other Vehicles

(a) No person shall operate a bicycle or motor vehicle upon any highway while wearing earphones, a headset, headphone, or other listening device. Any person who violates this section shall be fined: (1) one hundred dollars ($100) for the first offense, (2) one hundred ten dollars…

It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly remove or render inoperative, a catalytic converter installed on or in a motor vehicle or motor vehicle engine in compliance with federal regulations prior to or after its sale and delivery to the ultimate purchaser, except that a …

(a) Every school bus placed in service shall be equipped with a public address sound system which shall be audible from a distance of not less than fifty feet (50′) and shall have a minimum of one speaker mounted outside the bus and a minimum of one speaker mounted inside the bus…

Every school bus shall be equipped with at least one pressurized, dry chemical-type fire extinguisher, mounted in the manufacturer’s extinguisher bracket and located in the driver’s compartment in full view of and readily accessible to the driver. A pressure gauge shall be so mou…

Every school bus is required to be equipped with a speedometer and odometer in good working order at all times. The odometer may be installed separate and apart from the odometer normally included in the speedometer head.

Every school bus shall be equipped with a stop arm, approved by the department of revenue, which shall be activated whenever school children are being loaded or unloaded.

(a) Every motorcycle operator shall be required to wear protective eyewear while operating on any highway within the state. The eyewear shall include, but not be limited to, safety goggles, safety eyeglasses, or a safety shield. (b) Any person who violates the provisions of this …

All state trucks in use by the department of transportation shall be equipped with a backup warning device that meets the latest minimum standards as promulgated by either federal occupational health and safety standards or the standards set by the department of transportation.

All brakes shall be maintained in good working order and shall be so adjusted as to operate as equally as practicable with respect to the wheels on opposite sides of the vehicle. The brake fluid in hydraulic brakes shall conform to minimum S.A.E. (Society of Automotive Engineers)…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is authorized to require an inspection of the brake on any motor-driven cycle and to disapprove any brake which he or she finds will not comply with the performance ability standard set forth in § 31-23-5, or which in his or…

Every motor vehicle when operated upon a highway shall be equipped with a horn in good working order and capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions from a distance of not less than two hundred feet (200′). However, no horn or other warning device shall emit an unre…

It is permissible but not required that any vehicle be equipped with a theft alarm signal device which is so arranged that it cannot be used by the driver as an ordinary warning signal.

(a) Every vehicle upon a highway within this state at any time from sunset to sunrise and at any other time when windshield wipers are in use, as a result of rain, sleet, snow, hail or other unfavorable atmospheric condition, or at any other time when there is not sufficient ligh…

Every new motor vehicle sold and operated upon a highway, other than a truck tractor, shall carry on the rear, either as a part of the tail lamps or separately, two (2) red reflectors, except that every motorcycle and every motor-driven cycle shall carry at least one reflector, m…

Every reflector referred to in § 31-24-10 shall be mounted on the vehicle at a height not less than twenty inches (20") nor more than sixty inches (60") measured as set forth in § 31-24-3, and shall be of such size and characteristics and so mounted as to be visible at night from…

It shall be unlawful for any person to sell any new motor vehicle, including any motorcycle or motor-driven cycle, in this state, or for any person to drive a vehicle on the highways, unless it is equipped with a stop lamp meeting the requirements of §§ 31-24-13 and 31-24-14; pro…

Any motor vehicle may be equipped with, and when required under this chapter shall be equipped with, the following signal lamps or devices: (1) A stop lamp on the rear which shall emit a red or yellow light and which shall be actuated by applying the service (foot) brake and whic…

A stop lamp shall be plainly visible and understandable from a distance of one hundred feet (100′) to the rear both during normal sunlight and at nighttime, and a signal lamp or lamps indicating intention to turn shall be visible and understandable during daytime and nighttime fr…

All mechanical signal devices shall be self-illuminated when in use at the times mentioned in § 31-24-1. Violations of this section are subject to fines enumerated in § 31-41.1-4.

Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not to exceed two (2) spot lamps and every lighted spot lamp shall be aimed and used upon approaching another vehicle so that no part of the high-intensity portion of the beam will be directed to the left of the prolongation of the extreme l…

Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not more than two (2) road lamps or fog lamps which shall be rigidly affixed to the motor vehicle below the level of the head lamps, and shall be so aimed and used that no part of the high-intensity portion of the light beam shall rise more …

Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not more than two (2) side cowl or fender lamps which shall emit an amber or white light without glare. Violations of this section are subject to fines enumerated in § 31-41.1-4.

Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not more than one running board courtesy lamp on each side of it which shall emit a white or amber light without glare. Violations of this section are subject to fines enumerated in § 31-41.1-4.

Whenever a requirement is declared in this chapter as to the distance from which certain lamps and devices shall render objects visible or within which the lamps or devices shall be visible, the provisions shall apply during the times stated in § 31-24-1 in respect to a vehicle w…

Any motor vehicle may be equipped without not more than two (2) back-up lamps either separately or in combination with other lamps, but no back-up lamp shall be lighted when the motor vehicle is in forward motion. Violations of this section are subject to fines enumerated in § 31…

Every farm tractor equipped with an electric lighting system shall at all times mentioned in § 31-24-1 display a red tail lamp and either multiple beam or single beam head lamp equipment meeting the requirements of §§ 31-24-7 — 31-24-9, 31-24-22, and 31-24-24. Violations of this …

Except as provided in this chapter, the head lamps, or the auxiliary driving lamps, or combinations of them, on motor vehicles other than a motorcycle or a motor-driven cycle, shall be arranged so that selection may be made between distributions of light projected to different el…

Whenever a motor vehicle is being operated on a roadway or on its shoulder during the times specified in § 31-24-1, the driver shall use a distribution of light, or composite beam, directed high enough and of sufficient intensity to reveal persons and vehicles at a safe distance …

Head lamps arranged to provide a single distribution of light shall be permitted on motor vehicles manufactured and sold prior to November 1, 1951, in lieu of multiple beam road lighting equipment specified in this chapter if the single distribution of light complies with the fol…

The head or head lamps 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: (1) Every head lamp or head lamps on a motor-driven cycle shall be of sufficient intensity to re…

Any motor vehicle may be operated under the conditions specified in § 31-24-1 when equipped with two (2) lighted lamps upon the front of it capable of revealing persons and objects seventy-five feet (75′) ahead in lieu of lamps required in §§ 31-24-22 or 31-24-24; provided, that …

At all times specified in § 31-24-1, at least two (2) lighted lamps shall be displayed one on each side at the front of every motor vehicle other than a motorcycle or motor-driven cycle, except when the vehicle is parked subject to the regulations governing lights on parked vehic…

Whenever a motor vehicle equipped with head lamps as required by this chapter is also equipped with any auxiliary lamps or a spot lamp or any other lamp on the front of it projecting a beam of an intensity greater than three hundred (300) candle power, not more than a total of fo…

Any lighted lamp or illuminating device upon a motor vehicle other than head lamps, spot lamps, auxiliary lamps, or flashing front direction signals which projects a beam of light of an intensity greater than three hundred (300) candle power, shall be directed so that no part of …

Whenever a requirement is declared in this chapter as to the mounted height of lamps or devices, it shall mean from the center of the lamp or device to the level ground upon which the vehicle stands when the vehicle is without a load.

No person shall drive or move any vehicle or equipment upon any highway with any lamp or device on it displaying a red light visible from directly in front of the center of it. This section shall not apply to any vehicle upon which a red light visible from the front is expressly …

(a) Flashing lights are prohibited, except on an authorized emergency vehicle, school bus, snow-removal equipment, or on any vehicle as a means for indicating a right or left turn. However, the requirements of § 31-24-33 shall be deemed to be satisfied if the vehicle is equipped …

Whenever a vehicle is lawfully parked upon a street or highway during the hours between one-half (½) hour after sunset and one-half (½) hour before sunrise, and in the event there is sufficient light to reveal any person or object within a distance of five hundred feet (500′) upo…

(a) Whenever a vehicle is parked or stopped upon a roadway or shoulder adjacent to it, whether attended or unattended, during the hours between one-half (½) hour after sunset and one-half (½) hour before sunrise, and there is not sufficient light to reveal any person or object wi…

Any lighted head lamps upon a parked vehicle shall be depressed or dimmed. Violations of this section are subject to fines enumerated in § 31-41.1-4.

All vehicles, including animal-drawn vehicles and including those referred to in § 31-23-3 not specifically required by this chapter to be equipped with lamps, shall at the times specified in § 31-24-1 be equipped with at least one lighted lamp or lantern exhibiting a white light…

Those sections of this chapter which follow immediately, including §§ 31-24-37 — 31-24-44, relating to clearance and marker lamps, reflectors, and stop lights, shall apply as stated in those sections to vehicles of the type enumerated in those sections, namely passenger buses, tr…

In addition to other equipment required in chapters 1 — 27 of this title, the following vehicles shall be equipped as follows under the conditions stated in § 31-24-36. (1) On every bus or truck, whatever its size, there shall be the following: (i) On the rear, two (2) reflectors…

(a) Front clearance lamps and those marker lamps and reflectors mounted on the front or on the side near the front of a vehicle shall display or reflect an amber color. (b) Rear clearance lamps and those marker lamps and reflectors mounted on the rear or on the sides near the rea…

(a) Reflectors. When required by § 31-24-37, reflectors shall be mounted at a height not less than twenty-four inches (24") and not higher than sixty inches (60") above the ground on which the vehicle stands. If the highest part of the permanent structure of the vehicle is less t…

Every motor vehicle other than a motorcycle or motor-driven cycle shall be equipped with at least two (2) head lamps with at least one on each side of the front of the motor vehicle, and the head lamps shall comply with the requirements and limitations of this chapter. Violations…