STATE OF MICHIGAN

FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL

Opinion No. 6833

January 31, 1995

MICHIGAN VEHICLE CODE:

Use of motor vehicle lighting commonly called neon ground effects

The Michigan Vehicle Code provides that a vehicle driven on Michigan highways may not have a lamp or a reflector unless it is: 1) expressly required by Chapter VI of the Michigan Vehicle Code; 2) expressly permitted by Chapter VI of the Michigan Vehicle Code; or 3) meets the standards prescribed in 49 C.F.R. 571.108. Other lamps or reflectors can only be on a moving vehicle if they are both covered and unlit. Therefore, it is unlawful for a vehicle to have neon ground effects lighting unless the neon tubes are both covered and unlit while the vehicle is driven on the highways of this state.

Honorable Sharon L. Gire

State Representative

The Capitol

Lansing, MI

You have asked whether motor vehicle lighting commonly called neon ground effects is allowed under Michigan statutes.

The pertinent statutory provision is the Michigan Vehicle Code, section 698(4), MCL 257.698(4); MSA 9.2398(4). This subsection was amended by 1994 PA 101, effective April 18, 1994, to prohibit all lamps or reflectors on vehicles driven on the highways of this state except those which are expressly required or permitted by statute, as follows:

Thus, a vehicle driven on the highways of this state may not have a lamp or a reflector unless it is: 1) expressly required by Chapter VI of the Michigan Vehicle Code; 2) expressly permitted by Chapter VI of the Michigan Vehicle Code; or 3) meets the standards prescribed in 49 C.F.R. 571.108. The only exception to this mandate is that other lamps or reflectors may be on a vehicle while driven, if they are both covered and unlit.

Required lamps or reflective devices specified within Chapter VI of the Michigan Vehicle Code include: head lamps (Sec. 685); rear lamps (Sec. 686); clearance and marker lamps for specific vehicles (Sec. 687 to Sec. 692); parking lamps (Sec. 694); stop lamps (Sec. 697 and Sec. 697b) and turn signal lamps (Sec. 697 and Sec. 697a). Permitted lamps specified in Chapter VI include: spot lamps (Sec. 696); fog lamps (Sec. 696); cowl or fender lamps, running board courtesy lamps, and backing lights (Sec. 698).

Based on the information provided with your request, neon ground effects are tubes placed underneath the vehicle for the purpose of illuminating the ground below the vehicle. This creates a halo light effect around the base of the vehicle which can be a variety of colors. A review of Chapter VI reveals that neon ground effect lighting is neither expressly required nor expressly permitted. Moreover, a review of 49 C.F.R. 571.108 discloses that it sets forth federal standards for original vehicle equipment that have no application to neon ground effect lighting.

You provided a letter from an installer of neon ground effects which asserts that the neon ground effects tubes are not lamps. Rather, they are electrically excited gas filled tubes which are not directly visible.

The Legislature has not defined the term lamp as used in the Michigan Vehicle Code nor has a review of Michigan case law disclosed any precedent which defines lamp. The term must be construed in accordance with settled principles of statutory construction.

Absent some indication to the contrary, the words of a statute are to be accorded their plain and ordinary meaning. Baker v General Motors Corp, 409 Mich 639, 665; 297 NW2d 387 (1980). Without a statutory definition or controlling judicial definition, resort may be had to dictionary definitions. State ex rel Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney v Levenburg, 406 Mich 455, 465; 280 NW2d 810 (1979).

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1982) defines the term "lamp" as "[a] device that generates light, heat or therapeutic radiation." Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged Edition (1964) defines the term "lamp" as "a light giving device: as ... (2): a glass bulb enclosing a filament that glows because of its resistance to electrical current (3): any of various other devices that produce artificial light (gas) (acetylene) (fluorescent)."'

There is no question but that neon ground effects emit light that is visible to persons outside the equipped vehicle. Since the neon tube is a device that produces or gives off light, it is a lamp. Thus, section 698 of the Michigan Vehicle Code applies to neon ground effects lighting on a motor vehicle. The fact that the neon tube itself is not visible is of no consequence, unless the tube is not lit while the vehicle is being driven.

It is my opinion, therefore, that under section 698 of the Michigan Vehicle Code motor vehicle lighting called neon ground effects, being neither expressly required nor permitted by Chapter VI of the Michigan Vehicle Code or federal regulations, is unlawful unless the neon tubes are both covered and unlit while the vehicle is driven on the highways of this state.

Frank J. Kelley

Attorney General