Connecticut General Statutes
Chapter 246 - Motor Vehicles
Section 14-96p. - Color of lights. Flashing lights. Intensity of lights.

(a) Except as provided in section 14-96q, no person shall display upon any motor vehicle or equipment: (1) Any light visible from the front of such motor vehicle or equipment other than white, yellow or amber; (2) any light visible from the rear of such motor vehicle or equipment other than red, yellow, amber or white; or (3) any red light visible from directly in front of the center of such motor vehicle or equipment. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, a taxicab shall display the dome light or lights required by regulations that have been adopted by the Commissioner of Transportation under the authority of section 13b-96.

(b) Except as provided in section 14-96q, flashing lights are prohibited on motor vehicles, except: (1) Red and yellow lights when used for the purpose of receiving or discharging students on school buses; (2) white lights that are located on the top rear of school buses; (3) when such lights are used as a means for indicating a right or left turn; (4) when such lights are used in any manner to indicate (A) a disabled vehicle that is stopped in a hazardous location on the highway, or in close proximity thereto, (B) a motor vehicle that is unable to maintain the minimum speed of forty miles per hour on a limited access divided highway because of the grade of such highway, (C) a motor vehicle that is operating at such slow speed as to obstruct or endanger following traffic on any highway, or (D) a student transportation vehicle, as defined in section 14-212, accommodating fifteen or fewer students with disabilities that is receiving or discharging such students; or (5) red lights when used by a frozen dessert truck pursuant to section 14-283f. For the purposes of this subsection, “students with disabilities” means students who have intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, mental disability, visual impairment, blindness, deafness, speech impairment or orthopedic impairment, who are hard of hearing or who have another health impairment who, by reason thereof, require special education and related services, and “frozen dessert truck” has the same meaning as provided in section 14-283c.
(c) Any lighted lamp or illuminating device upon a motor vehicle, other than head lamps, spot lamps or auxiliary driving lamps, that projects a beam of light of an intensity greater than three hundred candle power shall be so directed that no part of the beam strikes the level of the roadway on which the vehicle stands at a distance of more than seventy-five feet from the vehicle.
(d) Use of lights except as authorized by this section shall be an infraction.
(1967, P.A. 834, S. 17, 18; 1969, P.A. 710; P.A. 73-544, S. 23; P.A. 74-99, S. 1, 3; P.A. 75-577, S. 42, 126; P.A. 78-156, S. 2; P.A. 80-466, S. 16, 25; P.A. 83-41; 83-412, S. 3, 5; P.A. 85-153; 85-217, S. 1; P.A. 87-41, S. 1; P.A. 93-307, S. 4, 34; P.A. 94-189, S. 7; P.A. 96-167, S. 29; P.A. 99-150, S. 1; P.A. 01-192, S. 1; P.A. 04-161, S. 1; P.A. 05-218, S. 9; 05-288, S. 234; P.A. 11-213, S. 26; P.A. 13-139, S. 18; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5, S. 213; P.A. 17-202, S. 95; P.A. 21-20, S. 9.)
History: 1969 act replaced “displayed” with “illuminated” and “display” with “use” for clarity; P.A. 73-544 replaced “civil defense” with “civil preparedness” in Subsec. (b); P.A. 74-99 added Subsec. (c) re flashing green lights; P.A. 75-577 added Subsec. (d); P.A. 78-156 amended Subsec. (a) re use of flashing red lights on vehicles accommodating nine or less handicapped students when vehicle stopped to pick up or discharge the students; P.A. 80-466 amended Subsecs. (b) and (c) to refer to single license plate; P.A. 83-41 amended Subsec. (a) re blanket permits for department of transportation motor vehicles; P.A. 83-412 amended Subsec. (a), permitting any motor vehicle accommodating fifteen or less handicapped students (increased from nine) to use flashing red lights while receiving or discharging passengers and defining “handicapped students” for the purposes of this subsection; P.A. 85-153 amended Subsec. (a) to specify that term “flashing white lights” shall not include simultaneous flashing of head lamps; P.A. 85-217 amended Subsec. (a), permitting the chief executive officer of an emergency medical service organization to use flashing red lights while responding to an emergency; P.A. 87-41 amended Subsec. (a), permitting the use of flashing white lights with flashing red lights on an ambulance responding to an emergency call; P.A. 93-307 amended Subsec. (a) to provide that an ambulance on the way to the scene of an emergency may use “flashing white head lamps”, effective June 29, 1993; P.A. 94-189 amended Subsec. (a) by making minor grammatical changes and providing for the use of flashing white head lamps and a flashing amber light while on the way to the scene of an emergency; P.A. 96-167 amended Subsec. (a) to add exception to allow ambulances to use flashing lights of other colors specified by federal requirements for manufacture of such vehicles; P.A. 99-150 amended Subsec. (a) by specifying that local fire marshals, emergency management directors and school buses may use certain flashing lights and by making a technical change; P.A. 01-192 amended Subsec. (a) by dividing existing provisions into Subdivs. (1) to (4), changing “less” to “fewer” in Subdiv. (2), adding provision in Subdiv. (3) which allows a member of a volunteer fire department or company or a volunteer emergency medical technician to use flashing white lamps in certain circumstances, deleting “or” in Subdiv. (3) and redesignating existing Subdivs. (1) to (5) as Subparas. (A) to (E), in Subdiv. (4); P.A. 04-161 amended Subsec. (a)(4) to provide that both volunteer and paid fire chiefs, deputies and assistants may display flashing or revolving white lights in combination with flashing or revolving red lights up to four paid and four volunteer individuals per municipality, to move provisions re volunteers from Subpara. (B) to new Subpara. (C) and to redesignate existing Subparas. (C) to (E) as new Subparas. (D) to (F), respectively; P.A. 05-218 amended Subsec. (a) by changing “written” to “special” permit and inserting “in accordance with the provisions of subsection (c) of section 14-96q” in Subdiv. (1) and, in Subdiv. (3) by adding “the first or second deputies, or if there are no deputies, the first or second assistants, of such an organization that is a municipal or volunteer organization” and, in Subdiv. (4), by changing “four” to “five” and “municipality” to “department”, effective July 6, 2005; P.A. 05-288 amended Subsec. (a)(3) by replacing “municipal or volunteer organization” with “municipal or volunteer or licensed organization”, effective July 13, 2005; P.A. 11-213 amended Subsec. (a)(1) to delete provision re single permit for display of lights on more than one Department of Transportation vehicle and add exemption from permit requirements for government vehicles, effective July 13, 2011; P.A. 13-139 amended Subsec. (a) by substituting “students with disabilities” for “handicapped students” in Subdiv. (2) and by substituting term and definition of “students with disabilities” for term and definition of “handicapped students” in Subdiv. (4), and amended Subsecs. (b) and (c) by making technical changes; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5 replaced former Subsecs. (a) to (d) with new Subsec. (a) re display of light on motor vehicle or equipment, new Subsec. (b) re flashing lights on motor vehicles, new Subsec. (c) re lighted lamp or illuminating device on motor vehicle and new Subsec. (d) re penalty, effective June 30, 2015; P.A. 17-202 amended Subsec. (b) by replacing reference to hearing impairment with reference to hard of hearing and making technical changes; P.A. 21-20 amended Subsec. (b) by adding Subdiv. (5) re red lights when used by frozen dessert truck, defining “frozen dessert truck” and making technical changes, effective July 1, 2021.

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