333.15 USE OF HEADLIGHT BEAMS.

   Whenever a motor vehicle is being operated on a roadway or shoulder adjacent thereto during the times specified in Section 333.03, the driver shall use a distribution of light, or composite beam, directed high enough and of sufficient intensity to reveal persons, vehicles and substantial objects at a safe distance in advance of the vehicle, subject to the following requirements:

   (a)   Whenever the driver of a vehicle approaches an oncoming vehicle, such driver shall use a distribution of light, or composite beam, so aimed that the glaring rays are not projected into the eyes of the oncoming driver.

   (b)   Every new motor vehicle registered in this State, which has multiple-beam road lighting equipment shall be equipped with a beam indicator which shall be lighted whenever the uppermost distribution of light from the headlights is in use, and shall not otherwise be lighted. Such indicator shall be so designed and located that, when lighted, it will be readily visible without glare to the driver of the vehicle.
(ORC 4513.15; Ord. 7-83. Passed 3-21-83.)

333.16 LIGHTS OF LESS INTENSITY ON SLOW-MOVING VEHICLES.

   Any motor vehicle may be operated under the conditions specified in Section 333.03, when it is equipped with two lighted lights upon the front thereof capable of revealing persons and substantial objects seventy-five feet ahead, in lieu of lights required in Section 333.14, provided that such vehicle shall not be operated at a speed in excess of twenty miles per hour.

(ORC 4513.16; Ord. 7-83. Passed 3-21-83.)

333.17 NUMBER OF LIGHTS PERMITTED; RED AND FLASHING LIGHTS.

   (a)   Whenever a motor vehicle equipped with headlights also is equipped with any auxiliary lights or spotlight or any other light on the front thereof projecting a beam of an intensity greater than 300 candle power, not more than a total of five of any such lights on the front of a vehicle shall be lighted at any one time when the vehicle is upon a highway.

   (b)   Any lighted light or illuminating device upon a motor vehicle, other than headlights, spotlights, signal lights or auxiliary driving lights, that projects a beam of light of an intensity greater than 300 candle power, shall be so directed that no part of the beam will strike the level of the roadway on which the vehicle stands at a distance of more than seventy-five feet from the vehicle.

   (c)   (1)   Flashing lights are prohibited on motor vehicles, except as a means for indicating a right or left turn, or in the presence of a vehicular traffic hazard requiring unusual care in approaching, or overtaking or passing.

      (2)   The prohibition in subsection (c)(1) of this section does not apply to any of the following:

         A.   Emergency vehicles, road service vehicles servicing or towing a disabled vehicle, stationary waste collection vehicles actively collecting garbage, refuse, trash or recyclable materials on the roadside, rural mail delivery vehicles, vehicles as provided in Ohio R.C. 4513.182, highway maintenance vehicles, and similar equipment operated by state or local authorities, provided such vehicles are equipped with and display, when used on a street or highway for the special purpose necessitating such lights, a flashing, oscillating or rotating amber light;

         B.   Vehicles or machinery permitted by Ohio R.C. 4513.111 to have a flashing red light;

         C.   Farm machinery and vehicles escorting farm machinery, provided such machinery and vehicles are equipped with and display, when used on a street or highway, a flashing, oscillating or rotating amber light. Farm machinery also may display the lights described in Ohio R.C. 4513.111.

         D.   A funeral hearse or funeral escort vehicle, provided that the funeral hearse or funeral escort vehicle is equipped with and displays, when used on a street or highway for the special purpose necessitating such lights, a flashing, oscillating or rotating purple or amber light;

      (3)   Subsection (c)(1) of this section does not apply to animal-drawn vehicles subject to Ohio R.C. 4513.114.

   (d)   (1)   Except a person operating a public safety vehicle, as defined in Ohio R.C. 4511.01(E), or a school bus, no person shall operate, move, or park upon, or permit to stand within the right-of-way of any public street or highway any vehicle or equipment that is equipped with and displaying a flashing red or a flashing combination red and white light, or an oscillating or rotating red light, or a combination red and white oscillating or rotating light.

      (2)   Except a public law enforcement officer, or other person sworn to enforce the criminal and traffic laws of the state, operating a public safety vehicle when on duty, no person shall operate, move, or park upon, or permit to stand within the right-of-way of any street or highway any vehicle or equipment that is equipped with, or upon which is mounted, and displaying a flashing blue or a flashing combination blue and white light, or an oscillating or rotating blue light, or a combination blue and white oscillating or rotating light.

   (e)   This section does not prohibit the use of warning lights required by law or the simultaneous flashing of turn signals on disabled vehicles or on vehicles being operated in unfavorable atmospheric conditions in order to enhance their visibility. This section also does not prohibit the simultaneous flashing of turn signals or warning lights either on farm machinery or vehicles escorting farm machinery, when used on a street or highway.

   (f)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.

(ORC 4513.17)

333.18 BRAKE EQUIPMENT.

   (a)   The following requirements govern as to brake equipment on vehicles:

      (1)   Every motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle, when operated upon a street or highway, shall be equipped with brakes adequate to control the movement of and to stop and hold such motor vehicle, including two separate means of applying the brakes, each of which means shall be effective to apply the brakes to at least two wheels. If these two separate means of applying the brakes are connected in any way, then on such motor vehicles manufactured or assembled after January 1, 1942, they shall be so constructed that failure of any one part of the operating mechanism shall not leave the motor vehicle without brakes on at least two wheels.

      (2)   Every motorcycle, when operated upon a street or highway, shall be equipped with at least one adequate brake, which may be operated by hand or by foot.

      (3)   Every motorized bicycle shall be equipped with brakes meeting the rules adopted by the Ohio Director of Public Safety under Ohio R.C. 4511.521.

      (4)   When operated upon the streets or highways of this Municipality, the following vehicles shall be equipped with brakes adequate to control the movement of and to stop and to hold the vehicle designed to be applied by the driver of the towing motor vehicle from its cab, and also designed and connected so that, in case of a breakaway of the towed vehicle, the brakes shall be automatically applied:

         A.   Except as otherwise provided in this section, every trailer or semitrailer, except a pole trailer, with an empty weight of two thousand pounds or more, manufactured or assembled on or after January 1, 1942;

         B.   Every manufactured home or travel trailer with an empty weight of two thousand pounds or more, manufactured or assembled on or after January 1, 2001.

      (5)   Every watercraft trailer with a gross weight or manufacturer’s gross vehicle weight rating of three thousand pounds or more that is manufactured or assembled on or after January 1, 2008, shall have separate brakes equipped with hydraulic surge or electrically operated brakes on two wheels.

      (6)   In any combination of motor-drawn trailers or semitrailers equipped with brakes, means shall be provided for applying the rearmost brakes in approximate synchronism with the brakes on the towing vehicle, and developing the required braking effort on the rearmost wheels at the fastest rate; or means shall be provided for applying braking effort first on the rearmost brakes; or both of the above means, capable of being used alternatively, may be employed.

      (7)   Every vehicle and combination of vehicles, except motorcycles and motorized bicycles, and except trailers and semitrailers of a gross weight of less than 2,000 pounds, and pole trailers, shall be equipped with parking brakes adequate to hold the vehicle on any grade on which it is operated, under all conditions of loading, on a surface free from snow, ice or loose material. The parking brakes shall be capable of being applied in conformance with the foregoing requirements by the driver's muscular effort or by spring action or by equivalent means. Their operation may be assisted by the service brakes or other sources of power provided that failure of the service brake actuation system or other power assisting mechanism will not prevent the parking brakes from being applied in conformance with the foregoing requirements. The parking brakes shall be so designed that when once applied they shall remain applied with the required effectiveness despite exhaustion of any source of energy or leakage of any kind.

      (8)   The same brake drums, brake shoes and lining assemblies, brake shoe anchors, and mechanical brake shoe actuation mechanism normally associated with the wheel brake assemblies may be used for both the service brakes and the parking brakes. If the means of applying the parking brakes and the service brakes are connected in any way, they shall be so constructed that failure of any one part shall not leave the vehicle without operative brakes.

   (9)   Every motor vehicle or combination of motor-drawn vehicles shall be capable at all times and under all conditions of loading of being stopped on a dry, smooth, level road free from loose material, upon application of the service or foot brake, within the following specified distances, or shall be capable of being decelerated at a sustained rate corresponding to these distances:

 

	From a speed of 20 miles per hour
	Stopping distance in feet	Deceleration in feet per second per second
Brakes on all wheels	30	14
Brakes not on all four wheels	40	10.7

      (10)   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.

   (b)   Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor on a first offense; on a second offense within one year after the first offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree; on each subsequent offense within one year after the first offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree. (ORC 4513.20)

333.19 HORNS; EMERGENCY VEHICLES; REQUIREMENTS AND RESTRICTIONS.

   (a)   Every motor vehicle when operated upon a street 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 200 feet.

   (b)   No motor vehicle shall be equipped with, nor shall any person use upon a vehicle any siren, whistle or bell. It is permissible but not required that any vehicle be equipped with a theft alarm signal device which shall be so arranged that it cannot be used as an ordinary warning signal. Every emergency vehicle shall be equipped with a siren, whistle or bell capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions from a distance of not less than 500 feet, and of a type approved by the Ohio Director of Public Safety. Such equipment shall not be used except when such vehicle is operated in response to an emergency call or in the immediate pursuit of an actual or suspected violator of the law, in which events the driver of such vehicle shall sound such equipment when it is necessary to warn pedestrians and other drivers of the approach thereof.

(ORC 4513.21; Ord. 7-83. Passed 3-21-83.)

333.20 MUFFLER; MUFFLER CUTOUT; EXCESSIVE SMOKE, GAS OR NOISE.

   (a)   Every motor vehicle and motorcycle with an internal combustion engine shall at all times be equipped with a muffler which is in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise.

   (b)   No person shall use a muffler cutout, by-pass or similar device upon a motor vehicle on a street or highway.

   (c)   Every motorcycle muffler shall be equipped with baffle plates.

   (d)   No person shall own, operate or have in his possession any motor vehicle or motorcycle equipped with a device for producing excessive smoke or gas, or so equipped as to permit oil or any other chemical to flow into or upon the exhaust pipe or muffler of such vehicle, or equipped in any other way to produce or emit smoke or dangerous or annoying gases from any portion of such vehicle other than the ordinary gases emitted by the exhaust of an internal combustion engine under normal operation.

(ORC 4513.22; Ord. 7-83. Passed 3-21-83.)

333.21 BLURRED WINDSHIELD.

   It shall be unlawful to operate or to have upon any street any vehicle in which the operator’s view through the windshield or any window is obstructed due to the glass being dirty, cracked, blurred or otherwise nontransparent.

(Ord. 7-83. Passed 3-21-83.)