Can You Put Christmas Lights On Your Car In Shreveport?
Is this another step in the War On Christmas, or can you actually wrap your car in Christmas lights do drive around Shreveport? Well, its complicated.
When I first moved to Shreveport, I saw memes online about cars driving around Shreveport covered in strands of lights. I thought it was just an online meme, and not a real gimmick. However, once I saw it for myself on the streets of Shreveport, I knew this was a real movement.
But is this trend legal? In some states, its not even close to being legal. Then there's Louisiana law, where things aren't as clear as the LEDs on your car.
According to multiple after-market lighting websites, Louisiana's lack of extra lighting laws. Here's what GloRails says about extra lighting on vehicles in the state of Louisiana:
"Louisiana law does not prohibit using additional vehicle lighting which would include neon overglow or underglow. Therefore it’s our conclusion that in Louisiana neon overglow or underglow is not illegal, as long as you avoid the following restrictions:
Blue-colored lights are illegal
Flashing lights are not permitted.
Using neon lights of any color except white near license plate is not allowed.
Red or green light must not be visible from the front of the car.
Do not display any combination of white, red, and blue colored lights.
No person shall drive or move any vehicular equipment upon any highway of this state with any lamp or device thereon displaying a red or green light visible from directly in front of the center thereof.
Flashing lights are prohibited except on authorized emergency vehicles, school buses, or on any vehicle as a means of indicating a right or left turn, or the presence of a vehicular traffic hazard requiring unusual care in approaching, overtaking or passing.
No person shall sell a dashboard, hood, vehicle front grill, or vehicle roof mounted emergency light that emits a blue or red glow, or that emits a glow in any combination of the colors red, white, and blue, to any person who is not a peace officer, a firefighter, or a person employed in the performance of emergency or public utility services. No person shall possess such an emergency light except peace officers, firefighters, public utility, and emergency personnel."
Now those rules do seem to clear the way for you to load up your car with dazzling lights, but there seems to be some wiggle room for any officer who might look to pull you over.
There are some cut outs for the color of the lights in the law, however those are even written a little odd. A line in the law that says "No person shall drive or move any vehicular equipment upon any highway of this state with any lamp or device thereon displaying a red or green light visible from directly in front of the center thereof..." leaves room for the part of "directly in front of the center". That little loophole seems to pave the way for a lot of these Christmas light decorations.
But the morale of the story is I'm not a lawyer, or an officer of the law in Louisiana. I'm just an idiot reading after-market lighting websites and published laws from Louisiana on the internet. So if you really want to put lights all over your car, you should go for it. Until you're told otherwise by an officer or a lawyer. That's not legal advice though, that's still the advice of an idiot with internet access.