333.01 DRIVING VEHICLES IN UNSAFE CONDITION.

   (a)   No person shall drive or move, or cause or knowingly permit to be driven or moved, on any street any vehicle or combination of vehicles which is in such unsafe condition as to endanger any person.

   (b)   The provisions of this Code with respect to equipment on vehicles shall not apply to implements of husbandry, road machinery, road rollers or agricultural tractors, except as herein made applicable to such articles of machinery.

(ORC 4513.02; Ord. 7-83. Passed 3-21-83.)

333.02 BUMPERS ON MOTOR VEHICLES.

   No person shall operate upon any street or highway any motor vehicle that:

   (a)    Was originally equipped with bumpers as standard equipment, unless the vehicle is equipped with bumpers equal to the original equipment when so operated;

   (b)    Has a suspension system or body so modified that the height of any bumper on the vehicle varies more than three inches from the original manufactured bumper height for the vehicle.
(ORC 4513.021; Ord. 7-83. Passed 3-21-83.)

333.03 LIGHTED LIGHTS; MEASUREMENT OF DISTANCES AND HEIGHTS.

   (a)   Every vehicle, other than a motorized bicycle, operated upon a street or highway shall display lighted lights and illuminating devices as required by this chapter 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 street or highway are not discernible at a distance of one thousand feet ahead;

      (3)   At any time when the windshield wipers of the vehicle are in use because of precipitation on the windshield.

   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 using only parking lights as illumination.

   (b)   Whenever in this chapter a requirement is declared as to the distance from which certain lights and devices shall render objects visible, or within which such lights or devices shall be visible, such distance shall be measured upon a straight level unlighted street under normal atmospheric conditions unless a different condition is expressly stated.

   (c)   Whenever in this chapter 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.

   (d)   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 to stop the vehicle solely because the officer observes that a violation of subsection (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 subsection, or causing the arrest of or commencing a prosecution of a person for a violation of that subsection.
(ORC 4513.03)

333.04 HEADLIGHTS ON VEHICLES AND MOTORCYCLES.

   (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 or motor scooter shall be equipped with at least one and not more than two headlights. (ORC 4513.04; Ord. 7-83. Passed 3-21-83.)

333.05 TAILLIGHT REGULATIONS; LICENSE PLATES VISIBLE.

   (a)    Every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer or any other vehicle which is being drawn at the end of a train of vehicles shall be equipped with at least one taillight mounted on the rear which, when lighted as hereinbefore required, 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 taillight on the rearmost vehicle need be visible from the distance specified.

   (b)    Either a taillight 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 fifty feet to the rear. Any taillight or taillights, 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; Ord. 7-83. Passed 3-21-83.)

333.06 RED REFLECTORS ON REAR OF VEHICLES.

   (a)    Every new motor vehicle hereafter sold and operated upon a street, other than a commercial tractor, to which a trailer or semitrailer is attached, shall carry at the rear, either as a part of the taillights or separately, two red reflectors meeting the requirements of this Code, except that vehicles of the type mentioned in Ohio R.C. 4513.07 shall be equipped with reflectors as required by the regulations provided for in such 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 fifty feet from such vehicle.

(ORC 4513.06; Ord. 7-83. Passed 3-21-83.)

333.07 STOP LIGHT REGULATIONS.

   Every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, and pole trailer when operated upon a street or highway shall be equipped with two or more stop lights, except that passenger cars manufactured or assembled prior to January 1, 1967, motorcycles, and motor-driven cycles shall be equipped with at least one stop light. Stop lights shall be mounted on the rear of the vehicle, actuated upon application of the service brake, and may be incorporated with other rear lights. Such stop lights when actuated shall emit a red light visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the rear, provided that in the case of a train of vehicles only the stop lights on the rear-most vehicle need be visible from the distance specified.

   Such stop lights when actuated shall give a steady warning light to the rear of a vehicle or train of vehicles to indicate the intention of the operator to diminish the speed of or stop a vehicle or train of vehicles.

   When stop lights are used as required by this section, they shall be constructed or installed so as to provide adequate and reliable illumination and shall conform to the appropriate rules and regulations established under Ohio R.C. 4513.19.

   Historical motor vehicles as defined in Ohio R.C. 4503.181, not originally manufactured with stop lights, are not subject to this section.

(ORC 4513.071)