Section
438.01 Driving unsafe vehicles; application
438.02 Lighted lights; measurement of distances and heights
438.03 Headlights on motor vehicles and motorcycles
438.04 Tail light; illumination of rear license plate
438.05 Rear red reflectors
438.06 Safety lighting on commercial vehicles
438.07 Obscured lights on vehicles in combination
438.08 Red light or red flag on extended loads
438.09 Lights on parked or stopped vehicles
438.10 Lights, emblems, and reflectors on slow-moving vehicles, farm machinery, agricultural tractors, and animal-drawn vehicles
438.11 Spotlight and auxiliary lights
438.12 Cowl, fender and back-up lights
438.13 Two lights displayed
438.14 Use of headlight beams
438.15 Lights of less intensity on slow-moving vehicles
438.16 Number of lights permitted; red and flashing lights
438.165 Lights and sound-producing devices on coroners’ vehicles
438.17 Vehicles transporting preschool children
438.18 Focus and aim of headlights
438.19 Motor vehicle and motorcycle brakes
438.20 Horn, siren and theft alarm signal
438.21 Muffler; muffler cutout; excessive smoke, gas or noise
438.22 Rear-view mirror; clear view to front, both sides and rear
438.23 Windshield required; sign or poster upon windshield; windshield wiper
438.235 Tinted glass; materials on glass
438.24 Limited load extension on left side of passenger vehicle
438.25 Motor vehicle stop lights
438.26 Bumpers
438.27 Air cleaner required
438.28 Boarding or leaving moving vehicle
438.29 Use of child restraints
438.30 Use of occupant restraining devices
438.32 Air bags
438.99 Penalty
Cross-reference:
Bicycle equipment, see § 474.05
Improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle, see § 672.04
Occupying travel trailers while in motion, see § 440.08
Snowmobile, off-highway motorcycle and all-purpose vehicle equipment, see § 476.02
Towing requirements; exception to size and weight restrictions, see § 440.05
Use of stop and turn signals, see § 432.13
Vehicles transporting explosives, see § 440.04
Wheel protectors for commercial vehicles, see § 440.03
Statutory reference:
Collector’s vehicles, see Ohio R.C. 4513.38, 4513.41
Warning devices for commercial vehicles disabled upon freeways, see Ohio R.C. 4513.28
(A) No person shall drive or move, or cause or knowingly permit to be driven or moved, on any highway any vehicle or combination of vehicles which is in such unsafe condition as to endanger any person.
(ORC 4513.02)
(B) Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit the use of additional parts and accessories on any vehicle not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter.
(A) Every vehicle, other than a motorized bicycle, operated upon a street or highway within this state shall display lighted lights and illuminating devices as required by Ohio R.C. 4513.04 through 4513.37 during all of the following times:
(1) The time from sunset to sunrise;
(2) At any other time when, due to insufficient natural light or unfavorable atmospheric conditions, persons, vehicles, and substantial objects on the highway are not discernible at a distance of 1,000 feet ahead;
(3) At any time when the windshield wipers of the vehicle are in use because of precipitation on the windshield.
(B) Every motorized bicycle shall display at such times lighted lights meeting the rules adopted by the Ohio Director of Public Safety under Ohio R.C. 4511.521. No motor vehicle, during any time specified in this section, shall be operated upon a street or highway within this state using only parking lights as illumination.
(C) Whenever in such sections a requirement is declared as to the distance from which certain lamps and devices shall render objects visible, or within which such lamps or devices shall be visible, such distance shall be measured upon a straight level unlighted highway under normal atmospheric conditions unless a different condition is expressly stated.
(D) Whenever in such sections a requirement is declared as to the mounted height of lights or devices, it shall mean from the center of such light or device to the level ground upon which the vehicle stands.
(E) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, no law enforcement officer shall cause the operator of a vehicle being operated upon a street or highway within this state to stop the vehicle solely because the officer observes that a violation of division (A)(3) of this section has been or is being committed or for the sole purpose of issuing a ticket, citation, or summons for a violation of that division, or causing the arrest of or commencing a prosecution of a person for a violation of that division.
(ORC 4513.03)
(A) Every motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle, shall be equipped with at least two headlights with at least one near each side of the front of the motor vehicle.
(B) Every motorcycle shall be equipped with at least one and not more than two headlights.
(ORC 4513.04)
(A) Every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer or vehicle which is being drawn at the end of a train of vehicles shall be equipped with at least one tail light mounted on the rear which, when lighted, shall emit a red light visible from a distance of 500 feet to the rear, provided that in the case of a train of vehicles only the tail light on the rearmost vehicle need be visible from the distance specified.
(B) Either a tail light or a separate light shall be so constructed and placed as to illuminate with a white light the rear registration plate, when such registration plate is required, and render it legible from a distance of 50 feet to the rear. Any tail light, together with any separate light for illuminating the rear registration plate, shall be so wired as to be lighted whenever the headlights or auxiliary driving lights are lighted, except where separate lighting systems are provided for trailers for the purpose of illuminating such registration plate.
(ORC 4513.05)
(A) Every new motor vehicle sold after September 6, 1941, and operated on a highway, other than a commercial tractor to which a trailer or semitrailer is attached, shall carry at the rear, either as a part of the tail lamps or separately, two red reflectors meeting the requirements of this section, except that vehicles of the type mentioned in Ohio R.C. 4513.07 or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance shall be equipped with reflectors as required by the regulations provided for in that section.
(B) Every such reflector shall be of such size and characteristics and so maintained as to be visible at night from all distances within 300 feet to 50 feet from such vehicle.
(ORC 4513.06)
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