The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989

Requirements about the use of front and rear position lamps, rear registration plate lamps, side marker lamps and end-outline marker lamps

24.—(1) Save as provided in paragraphs (5) and (9), no person shall–

(a)use, or cause or permit to be used, on a road any vehicle which is in motion–

(i)between sunset and sunrise, or

(ii)in seriously reduced visibility between sunrise and sunset; or

(b)allow to remain at rest, or cause or permit to be allowed to remain at rest, on a road any vehicle between sunset and sunrise

unless every front position lamp, rear position lamp, rear registration plate lamp, side marker lamp and end-outline marker lamp with which the vehicle is required by these Regulations to be fitted is kept lit and unobscured.

(2) Save as provided in paragraphs (5) and (9), where a solo motor bicycle is not fitted with a front position lamp, no person shall use it, or cause or permit it to be used, on a road (other than when it is parked) between sunset and sunrise or in seriously reduced visibility between sunrise and sunset, unless a headlamp is kept lit and unobscured.

(3) Save as provided in paragraphs (5) and (9), no person shall allow to remain parked, or cause or permit to be allowed to remain parked between sunset and sunrise–

(a)a motor bicycle combination which is required to be fitted only with a front position lamp on the sidecar; or

(b)a trailer to the front of which no other vehicle is attached and which is not required to be fitted with front position lamps,

unless a pair of front position lamps is fitted and kept lit and unobscured.

(4) Save as provided in paragraphs (5) and (9), no person shall allow to remain parked, or cause or permit to be allowed to remain parked between sunset and sunrise a solo motor bicycle which is not required to be fitted with a front position lamp, unless a front position lamp is fitted and kept lit and unobscured.

(5) Paragraphs (1), (2), (3) and (4) shall not apply in respect of a vehicle of a class specified in paragraph (7) which is parked on a road on which a speed limit of 30 mph or less is in force and the vehicle is parked–

(a)in a parking place for which provision is made under section 6, or which is authorised under section 32 or designated under section 45 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, or which is set apart as a parking place under some other enactment or instrument and the vehicle is parked in a manner which does not contravene the provision of any enactment or instrument relating to the parking place; or

(b)in a lay-by–

(i)the limits of which are indicated by a traffic sign consisting of the road marking shown in diagram 1010 in Schedule 2 of the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 1981(1); or

(ii)the surface of which is of a colour or texture which is different from that of the part of the carriageway of the road used primarily by through traffic; or

(iii)the limits of which are indicated by a continuous strip of surface of a different colour or texture from that of the surface of the remainder of the carriageway of the road; or

(c)elsewhere than in such a parking place or lay-by if–

(i)the vehicle is parked in one of the circumstances described in paragraph (8); and

(ii)no part of the vehicle is less than 10 m from the junction of any part of the carriageway of any road with the carriageway of the road on which it is parked whether that junction is on the same side of the road as that on which the vehicle is parked or not.

(6) Sub-paragraph (5)(c)(ii) shall be construed in accordance with the diagram in Schedule 22.

(7) The classes of vehicle referred to in paragraph (5) are–

(a)a motor vehicle being a goods vehicle the unladen weight of which does not exceed 1525 kg;

(b)a passenger vehicle other than a bus;

(c)an invalid carriage; and

(d)a motor cycle or a pedal cycle in either case with or without a sidecar;

not being–

(i)a vehicle to which a trailer is attached;

(ii)a vehicle which is required to be fitted with lamps by regulation 21; or

(iii)a vehicle carrying a load, if the load is required to be fitted with lamps by regulation 21.

(8) The circumstances referred to in paragraph (5)(c) are that–

(a)the vehicle is parked on a road on which the driving of vehicles otherwise than in one direction is prohibited at all times and its left or near side is as close as may be and parallel to the left-hand edge of the carriageway or its right or off side is as close as may be and parallel to the right-hand edge of the carriageway; or

(b)the vehicle is parked on a road on which such a prohibition does not exist and its left or near side is as close as may be and parallel to the edge of the carriageway.

(9) Paragraphs (1), (2), (3) and (4) do not apply in respect of–

(a)a solo motor bicycle or a pedal cycle being pushed along the left-hand edge of a carriageway;

(b)a pedal cycle waiting to proceed provided it is kept to the left-hand or near side edge of a carriageway; or

(c)a vehicle which is parked in an area on part of a highway on which roadworks are being carried out and which is bounded by amber lamps and other traffic signs so as to prevent the presence of the vehicle, its load or equipment being a danger to persons using the road.