2023 New York Laws › VAT - Vehicle and Traffic › Title 3 - Safety Responsibility; Financial Security; Equipment; Inspection; Size and Weight; and Other Provisions › Article 9 - Equipment of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles › 381 - Motorcycle Equipment.

§ 381. Motorcycle  equipment. 1. (a) Every motorcycle, driven upon the
public highways of this state, shall be provided with adequate brakes in
good working order and sufficient to  control  such  motorcycle  at  all
times,  when  the  same is in use, a suitable and adequate bell, horn or
other device for signaling, one  red  to  amber  stop  lamp  and  shall,
whenever  such  motorcycle is being operated upon the public highways of
the state, display one lighted lamp in front and one on  the  rear,  or,
when  such  motorcycle  is  operated  with  a  passenger  or other truck
attached to the side or front two such lamps on the front and one on the
rear; and in all cases the lamps on a motorcycle  shall  include  a  red
light visible from the rear. The rays of such rear lamp shall shine upon
the  number  plate carried on the rear of such motorcycle in such manner
as to render the numerals thereon visible for at least fifty feet in the
direction from which the motorcycle is  proceeding.  The  light  of  the
front  lamp  or  lamps shall be visible at least two hundred feet in the
direction in which the motorcycle is proceeding. Every  such  motorcycle
shall  have  a  suitable  muffler or device to prevent unnecessary noise
from exhaust gases, and the use of so-called "cut-outs" is prohibited.
(b) Driving a motorcycle without the display of one  lighted  lamp  in
front and one on the rear, during a period other than from one-half hour
after  sunset  to  one-half  hour before sunrise, shall not be deemed to
constitute negligence  or  contributory  negligence  in  any  action  or
proceeding arising out of the operation of such motorcycle.
(c)  The provisions of this subdivision relating to the display of one
lighted lamp in front and one on the rear during  a  period  other  than
from  one-half  hour  after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise shall
not apply to a motorcycle, driven at a speed of less than  twenty  miles
per hour, owned by a municipality and used for the collection of parking
fees or the enforcement of parking regulations.
1-a.  Every  motorcycle  registered  in this state and manufactured or
assembled  after  January  first,  nineteen  hundred   seventy-one   and
designated  as  a  nineteen hundred seventy-one or subsequent year model
shall be equipped with brakes acting on the front as well  as  the  rear
wheel.
2.  No  head  lamp shall be used upon any motorcycle operated upon the
public highways of the state,  unless  such  lamp  is  approved  by  the
commissioner  or is equipped with a lens or other device approved by the
commissioner. Every such head  lamp,  lens  or  other  device  shall  be
applied  and  adjusted  in  accordance  with  the  requirements  of  the
certificate approving the use thereof. Every such  head  lamp  shall  be
firmly  and substantially mounted on the motorcycle in such manner as to
allow the lamp to be properly and readily adjusted. Each reflector which
is used as a part of such head lamp shall  have  a  polished  silver  or
glass  reflecting  surface,  or  a reflecting surface which gives candle
power intensity  meeting  the  requirements  of  rules  and  regulations
established  by  the  commissioner, and shall be substantially free from
dents, rust and other imperfections. The operator  of  every  motorcycle
shall permit any police officer or other person exercising police powers
to  inspect  the equipment of such motorcycle and make such tests as may
be necessary to determine whether the provisions  of  this  section  are
being  complied  with.  The  commissioner  may make reasonable rules and
regulations relative to lights on motorcycles and the  approval  of  the
same  which  may  be necessary to effectuate the foregoing provisions of
this section.
2-a. It shall be unlawful for any person  to  operate  on  the  public
highways  of  the  state  any motorcycle manufactured or assembled after
October first, nineteen hundred sixty-eight and designated as a nineteen
hundred sixty-nine or subsequent year model unless  such  motorcycle  is

equipped  with  the lamps required by this section, which lamps shall be
of a type, design and construction approved by the commissioner.
3.  Except as hereinafter provided, only a white or yellow light shall
be displayed upon a motorcycle so as to be visible from a point directly
in front of the vehicle. Any color light, except blue, may be displayed,
so as to be visible from a point directly in front of the vehicle, on  a
police  vehicle  or  on  a  motorcycle  operated by a sheriff or regular
deputy sheriff when engaged in the  performance  of  duty  as  a  police
officer.  Any color light, including blue, may be displayed, so as to be
visible from a point directly in front of the vehicle, on  a  motorcycle
operated by a chief or assistant chief of a fire department, a county or
deputy  county  fire  coordinator,  or a county or assistant county fire
marshal. A blue light may be displayed upon a motorcycle, so  as  to  be
visible  from a point directly in front of the vehicle, when operated by
an active  volunteer  member  of  a  fire  department  or  company  duly
authorized as hereinafter provided, and while such vehicle is in use for
fire  or  other  emergency  service.  No  volunteer firefighter shall be
permitted to display a blue light  upon  a  motorcycle  as  hereinbefore
provided  except  while actually enroute to the scene of a fire or other
emergency requiring his or her services and unless he or she shall be an
active volunteer member of a fire department or company and  shall  have
been  authorized  in  writing to so display a blue light by the chief of
the fire department or company of which he or she  is  a  member,  which
authorization  shall  be  subject to revocation at any time by the chief
who issued the same, or his or her successor in office.
4. Every motorcycle shall have at least  one  adequate  red  reflector
securely  attached to the rear. Such reflector may be a part of the rear
lamp. No reflector shall be deemed adequate within the meaning  of  this
subdivision   unless   it  is  of  a  size  and  type  approved  by  the
commissioner, and unless it is so designed, located and maintained as to
be visible for at least two hundred feet when opposed by a motor vehicle
displaying lawful undimmed headlights at night on an unlighted  highway.
The  provisions  of this subdivision with respect to reflectors shall be
applicable, both day and night, whenever the motorcycle is on  a  public
highway.
5.  No  person shall operate on a public highway a motorcycle on which
the handle bars or grips are more than  the  height  of  the  operator's
shoulders.
6.  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any person to operate or ride upon a
motorcycle unless he wears a protective helmet of a type which meets the
requirements set forth in section 571.218 of the federal  motor  vehicle
safety  standards  as may from time to time be amended. The commissioner
is hereby authorized and directed to adopt regulations for helmets which
are consistent with the requirements as specified in section 571.218  of
the  federal  motor vehicle safety standards as may from time to time be
amended. The police authorities of a city, town or village may  issue  a
permit  exempting  members  of  organizations  sponsoring  or conducting
parades  or  other  public  exhibitions  from  the  provisions  of  this
subdivision  while  such  members  are  participating in such parades or
other public exhibitions.
7. It shall be unlawful, on and after January first, nineteen  hundred
sixty-seven,  for  any  person  to  operate a motorcycle unless he wears
goggles or a face shield of a type approved  by  the  commissioner.  The
commissioner  is  hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to adopt and amend
regulations  covering  types  of  goggles  and  face  shields  and   the
specifications therefor and to establish and maintain a list of approved
goggles  and  face  shields which meet the specifications as established
hereunder.
8. It shall be unlawful to operate on any public highway in this state
any motorcycle registered in this state which is equipped  with  a  wind
screen,  unless  such  wind  screen meets the specifications established
therefor by the commissioner. The commissioner is hereby  authorized  to
adopt   and  amend  regulations  covering  types  of  wind  screens  and
specifications therefor.
9. It shall be unlawful to sell, offer  for  sale  or  distribute  any
goggles  or  face shields for use by the operators of motorcycles unless
they are of a type and specification approved by  the  commissioner  and
appear on the list of approved devices maintained by the commissioner.
9-a.  It  shall  be unlawful to sell, offer for sale or distribute any
protective helmets for use by the operators or passengers of motorcycles
unless they are consistent with the regulations of the  commissioner  as
provided  in subdivision six of this section and within the requirements
specified in  section  571.218  of  the  federal  motor  vehicle  safety
standards as may from time to time be amended.
10.   It   shall  be  unlawful  after  July  first,  nineteen  hundred
sixty-seven  to  operate  on  any  public  highway  in  this  state  any
motorcycle  registered in this state, unless such motorcycle is equipped
with a rear view mirror which shall be adjusted so that the operator  of
such  motorcycle  shall  have  a clear view of the road and condition of
traffic behind such motorcycle.
11. No person shall operate a motorcycle on any highway which is:  (1)
not  equipped  with a muffler to prevent excessive or unusual noise; (2)
equipped with a muffler from which the baffle plates, screens  or  other
original  internal parts have been removed or altered; (3) equipped with
an exhaust device without internal baffles, known as  "straight  pipes";
or  (4)  equipped  with  an  exhaust  system that has been modified in a
manner that will amplify or increase the noise emitted by the  motor  of
such  vehicle  above  that  emitted  by  the  exhaust  system originally
installed on the vehicle.
12. No person shall operate a  motorcycle  on  any  highway  which  is
equipped  with an exhaust device that is intentionally designed to allow
for  the  internal  baffling  to  be  fully  or  partially  removed   or
interchangeable.  This  subdivision  shall  not  apply  to  a motorcycle
manufactured or assembled prior to nineteen hundred  seventy-nine  or  a
motorcycle registered as a limited use vehicle or an all terrain vehicle
pursuant to article forty-eight-A or forty-eight-B of this chapter.
13.  A  violation  of  any  of  the  provisions of this section except
subdivisions eleven and  twelve  shall  be  punishable  by  a  fine  not
exceeding  one  hundred  dollars  or  by  imprisonment for not exceeding
thirty days, or by both such  fine  and  imprisonment.  A  violation  of
subdivision  eleven  or  twelve of this section shall be punishable by a
fine not exceeding five hundred  dollars  or  by  imprisonment  for  not
exceeding thirty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.