Do road regulations in your state require head lights at a c

[Gage]

Just curious, Do road regulations in your state require head lights at a certain height?

I want to replace the headlights on my Atom with something sleeker looking and mount them further down, on or near the turn signals. It looks WAAAY better to me than having those big bug eyed things up higher.

[Norm]

I think there is in Washington as they ticket street rods that lower their cars too far on that. It is kind of a double standard though, because trucks seem to have no limit to how high they can go.

[bolus]

Your state's DMV website should have a vehicle code book. That' will give the regulations

If you are curious this is what it says about Oregon. Mostly says that they must be white light and face forward



816.050 Headlights; rules. Each of the
following is a requirement for headlights as
described:

(1) On vehicles required to be equipped
with two or more headlights under ORS
816.320 and 816.330 the headlights shall be
equally distributed on each side of the front
of the vehicle. This subsection does not apply
to motorcycles and mopeds.

(2) Headlights shall show a continuously
burning light except that:
(a) When permitted under ORS 814.320,
headlights for motorcycles or mopeds may
have an upper beam that can be modulated
between a high and lower brightness at a
rate of 200 to 280 pulses per minute.
(b) A federally approved headlight flashing system may be used as emergency vehicle
lights on police, fire, emergency or ambulance vehicles.

(3) Headlights shall show a white light
described in Standard Number 108 of the
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

(4) Headlights shall show the light forward.

(5) The Department of Transportation
shall adopt and enforce rules establishing
minimum standards and specifications for
headlights. The rules shall conform, insofar
as practicable, to safety standards and specifications for vehicle lighting issued by the
federal government or to standards and recommendations established by the Society of
Automotive Engineers.

(6) When multiple beam headlights are
used or when headlights are used in combination with auxiliary lights or passing lights,
the lights shall be arranged on the vehicle
so that the selection between distributions
of light projected to different elevations may
be selected by the driver at will or so that
the selection can be made automatically.

(7) Headlights shall be aimed in accordance with rules adopted by the department.
If headlights provide only a single distribution of light and are not supplemented by
auxiliary lights, the single beam headlights
shall be so aimed that when the vehicle is
not loaded, none of the high intensity portion
of the light shall, at a distance of 25 feet
ahead of the vehicle, project higher than five
inches below the level of the center of the
lamp from which it comes, or higher than 42
inches above the level on which the vehicle
stands at a distance of 75 feet ahead of the
vehicle.

(8) The intensity of the light of single
beam headlights shall be sufficient to reveal
persons and vehicles upon a street or highway at a distance of at least 200 feet ahead
of the vehicle to which they are attached.

(9) Headlights that are required under
ORS 816.320 and 816.330 must be mounted,
adjusted and aimed in accordance with standards adopted by the department under ORS
816.010.

(10) Headlights that are required under
ORS 816.320 and 816.330 and any part for
such headlight that tends to change the original design or performance must be of a
type that complies with standards adopted by
the department under ORS 816.010.

(11) Single beam headlights that are not
supplemented by auxiliary lights shall be
permitted on a motor vehicle in lieu of multiple beam headlights only if the single distribution of lights complies with any
requirements for single beam headlights under this section. [1983 c.338 §458 (2); 1985 c.16 §240
(2); 1985 c.69 §1 (2); 1985 c.71 §4 (2); 1985 c.393 §13 (2);
1985 c.420 §6 (2); 1989 c.402 §8; 1991 c.769 §1; 2003 c.158

[sl33pyriceboi]

in CA, there is a 23" min requirement.

[havok1919]

Old thread, but since I just had to look it up-- WA state is 24" to the centerline of the light.

[timcking]

This is a federal requirement. I became familiar with this when I bought a Lotus Europa in the '70s. They weren't legal and some states (California) were particularly difficult with it.

It's still the law, but it basically comes down to the state enforcement. Fortunately many jurisdictions aren't knowledgeable or don't really care about enforcement.