NC · jury_instructions
N.C.P.I.—Motor Vehicle 215.15
REQUIRED LIGHTING EQUIPMENT-MOTORCYCLES-NIGHTTIME.
The motor vehicle law provides that every motorcycle operated
upon a highway [during the period from sunset to sunrise]2 [at any time
when there is not sufficient light to render clearly discernible a person on
the highway at a distance of 400 feet] 3 shall be equipped with one and
not more than two lighted [headlights] [taillights].4
[Headlights. There must be at least one, but not more than two,
headlights, in good operating condition and so constructed, arranged and
adjusted as, under normal atmospheric conditions on a level road, to
produce a driving light sufficient to render clearly discernible a person 400
feet ahead.]5
[Taillights. The originally equipped taillight(s), or equivalent, must
be in good working order and exhibit a red light plainly visible under
normal atmospheric conditions from a distance of 500 feet to the rear of
such vehicle.
At any of the times specified, operating a motorcycle on a highway
without such light(s) is negligence within itself.6
History
N.C.P.I.—Motor Vehicle 215.15 (October 1988). N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 20-129 and 20-131. Prepared by the North Carolina Conference of Superior Court Judges' Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions, assisted by the UNC School of Government; published by the School of Government.
Provenance
- Source
- sog.unc.edu
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-25
- Edition
- 2026-09-24
- Content hash
2c965d345706d03da008ea01f40985c8c9d5dd16d54a3c1a8a83bfc4a65e6d9f
The link goes to the issuing authority’s own document — the one we read to produce this record. Where a source publishes whole titles rather than sections, your browser may need a moment to jump to the provision.
Unofficial copy of government-published law, reproduced from official sources with full provenance. Not an official publication; verify against official sources before relying on it in a filing. Records in the 'guidance' corpus, and only that corpus, are sub-regulatory (interpretive guidelines, survey procedures) and are not binding law. Validity bounds follow each jurisdiction's declared temporalBasis.