A. Lighted Lamps Required: Every vehicle upon a street or thoroughfare within this municipality at any time from one-half (1/2) hour after sunset to one-half (1/2) hour before sunrise and at any other time when, due to insufficient light or unfavorable atmospheric conditions, persons and vehicles on the streets or thoroughfares are not clearly discernible at a distance of five hundred feet (500') ahead, shall display lighted lamps and illuminating devices as required by state law for different classes of vehicles, subject to exceptions with respect to parked vehicles. (1975 Code § 10.04.300)
B. Headlamps:
1. Motor Vehicles Other Than Motorcycle Or Motor Driven Cycle: Every motor vehicle other than a motorcycle or motor driven cycle shall be equipped with at least two (2) headlamps with at least one on each side of the front of the motor vehicle, which headlamps shall comply with the requirements and limitations set forth by state law.
2. Motorcycle Or Motor Driven Cycle: Every motorcycle and every motor driven cycle shall be equipped with at least one and not more than two (2) headlamps which shall comply with the requirements and limitations of state law. (1975 Code § 10.04.310)
C. Taillamps:
1. Required: Every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer and pole trailer and any other vehicle which is being drawn at the end of a train of vehicles, shall be equipped with at least one taillamp mounted on the rear, which, when lighted as hereinbefore required, shall emit a red light plainly visible from a distance of five hundred feet (500') to the rear; provided, that in the case of a train of vehicles, only the taillamp on the rearmost vehicle need actually be seen from the distance specified. And further, every such above mentioned vehicle, other than a truck tractor, registered in this state and manufactured or assembled after January 1, 1956, shall be equipped with at least two (2) taillamps mounted on the rear, which, when lighted as herein required, shall comply with the provisions of this subsection.
2. Height: Every taillamp upon every vehicle shall be located at a height of not more than seventy two inches (72") nor less than twenty inches (20").
3. Rear Registration Plate: Either taillamp or a separate lamp shall be so constructed and placed as to illuminate with a white light the rear registration plate and render it clearly legible from a distance of fifty feet (50') to the rear. Any taillamp or taillamps, together with any separate lamp for illuminating the rear registration plate, shall be so wired as to be lighted whenever the headlamps or auxiliary driving lamps are lighted. (1975 Code § 10.04.320)
D. Brakes: The following brake equipment is required:
1. Motor Vehicles Other Than Motorcycles Or Motor Driven Cycles: Every motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle or motor driven cycle, when operated upon a street or thoroughfare shall be equipped with brakes adequate to control the movement of and to stop and hold such vehicle, including two (2) separate means of applying the brakes, each of which means shall be effective to apply the brakes to at least two (2) wheels. If these two (2) separate means of applying brakes are connected in any way, 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 (2) wheels.
2. Motorcycles And Motor Driven Cycles: Every motorcycle and every motor driven cycle, when operated upon a street or thoroughfare, shall be equipped with at least one brake which may be operated by hand or foot. (1975 Code § 10.04.330)
E. Horns And Warning Devices:
1. Horn: Every motor vehicle when operated upon a street or thoroughfare 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'), but no horn or other warning device shall emit an unreasonably loud or harsh sound or a whistle. The driver of a motor vehicle shall, when reasonably necessary to ensure safe operation, give audible warning with his horn but shall not otherwise use such horn when upon a street or thoroughfare.
2. Siren, Whistle Or Bell: No vehicle shall be equipped with nor shall any person use upon a vehicle any siren, whistle or bell except as otherwise permitted in this title. (1975 Code § 10.04.340)
F. Mufflers:
1. Required: Every motor vehicle shall at all times be equipped with a muffler in good condition and good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise and annoying smoke, and no person shall use a muffler cutout, bypass or similar device upon a motor vehicle on a street or thoroughfare.
2. Fumes Or Smoke: The engine and power mechanism of every motor vehicle shall be so equipped and adjusted as to prevent the escape of excessive fumes or smoke. (1975 Code § 10.04.350)
G. Mirrors: Every motor vehicle shall be equipped with a mirror so located as to reflect to the driver a view of the street or thoroughfare for a distance of at least two hundred feet (200') to the rear of such motor vehicle. (1975 Code § 10.04.360; amd. 2008 Code)
H. Windshields:
1. Obstruction Of View: No person shall drive any motor vehicle with any sign, poster or other nontransparent material upon the front windshield, side wings or side or rear windows of such vehicle which obstructs the driver's clear view of the street or thoroughfare or any intersecting street or thoroughfare.
2. Windshield Wipers:
a. Required: The windshield on every motor vehicle shall be equipped with a device for clearing rain, snow or other moisture from the windshield, which device shall be so constructed as to be controlled or operated by the driver of the vehicle.
b. Maintenance: Every windshield wiper upon a motor vehicle shall be maintained in good working order. (1975 Code § 10.04.370)
I. Vehicles Without Required Equipment Or In Unsafe Condition: No person shall drive or move on any street or thoroughfare any motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer or pole trailer or any combination thereof unless the equipment upon any and every vehicle is in good working order and adjustment, as required in this chapter, and the vehicle is in such safe mechanical condition as not to endanger the driver or other occupant or any person upon the street or thoroughfare. (1975 Code § 10.04.380)
J. License Plates: It is unlawful for any person to drive a motor vehicle upon the streets or thoroughfares within the municipal limits without having license plates for the current year displayed thereon. (1975 Code § 10.04.390)