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 › 376 - Lamps, Signaling Devices and Reflectors on Vehicles.

§ 376. Lamps,  signaling devices and reflectors on vehicles. 1. (a) It
shall be unlawful  to  operate,  drive  or  park  a  vehicle,  except  a
motorcycle  operated during the period from one-half hour before sunrise
to one-half hour after sunset, on any public highway or street  in  this
state  at  any  time  during  the  day  or  night unless such vehicle is
equipped with signaling devices and reflectors of a type approved by the
commissioner which are in good working condition; or to  operate,  drive
or  park a vehicle, except a motorcycle, on any public highway or street
in this state, during the period from  one-half  hour  after  sunset  to
one-half hour before sunrise, unless such vehicle is equipped with lamps
of  a  type  approved  by the commissioner which are lighted and in good
working  condition;  or  to  operate,  drive  or   park   self-propelled
agricultural  equipment  on  any public highway or street in this state,
during the period from one-half  hour  after  sunset  to  one-half  hour
before  sunrise and during such other times as visibility for a distance
of one thousand feet ahead of or behind such agricultural  equipment  is
not  clear, unless such agricultural equipment is equipped with lamps of
a type approved by the  commissioner  which  are  lighted  and  in  good
working condition.
(b)  The  commissioner  of  motor  vehicles  is  hereby authorized and
empowered to promulgate rules and regulations  with  respect  to  lamps,
reflectors   and   signaling   devices,   their  number,  type,  design,
construction, location, attachment and use  on  vehicles  being  driven,
operated  or  parked  on  any public highway or street in this state. In
promulgating such rules and regulations the commissioner shall be guided
by the requirements with regard to lights, reflectors, signaling devices
and  associated  equipment  on  vehicles  of   rules   and   regulations
promulgated by the United States department of transportation.
2.  Wiring used on commercial vehicles shall be of such size that when
all connections are made in an acceptable  and  workmanlike  manner  the
loss  in  voltage will not be sufficient to cause a lamp to produce less
than the minimum candlepower, under normal  operating  conditions,  when
the  lamp  is  in  good  working order. All wiring should be enclosed in
weather proof and abrasion proof cable or conduit except wiring which is
completely enclosed within the body of the vehicle.
3. All lights, signals and reflectors shall be of a  type  and  design
approved  by  the  commissioner. No light having a candlepower rating in
excess of thirty-two candle power shall be used on any  vehicle,  unless
it  is of a type approved by the commissioner. The provisions of section
three hundred seventy-five of this chapter  governing  the  approval  of
equipment  and  the adjustment of headlamps shall apply to the equipment
and headlamps required by  this  section.  The  commissioner  is  hereby
authorized  and  empowered  to  adopt  and  from time to time amend such
regulations not inconsistent with  this  section,  governing  the  size,
type, construction, location, and use of lights, signals and reflectors,
including  the  exemption  of specific vehicles from the requirements of
this section where the construction of such  vehicles  makes  compliance
herewith impracticable, or impossible.
4.  All  existing  provisions  of  this  chapter  governing the use of
headlamps, front parking lamps and license plate lamps and other  lamps,
reflectors, lights and directional signals on vehicles shall continue to
apply,  except  to  the  extent  irreconcilably  inconsistent  with  the
provisions of this section or regulations promulgated thereunder.