ROH §15-19.16
Rules for multiple-beam headlights on vehicles
Read the official text at honolulu.gov ↗This section sets rules for vehicles with headlights that can switch between high and low beams. It explains how high and low beams must be aimed, how bright they must be, and requires a dashboard light that shows when high beams are on.
everyone
The ordinance, as written (Honolulu County) — Multiple-beam road-lighting equipment
A copy, taken August 22, 2026. The version published by Honolulu is the one that governs, and it may have changed since. Check it before relying on anything here.
Except as hereinafter provided, the head lamps, or the auxiliary driving lamps, or combinations thereof, on motor vehicles shall be so arranged that the driver may select at will between distributions of light projected to different elevations, subject to the following requirements and limitations.
(a) There shall be an uppermost distribution of lights or composite beam, so aimed and of such intensity as to reveal persons and vehicles at a distance of at least 200 feet ahead for all conditions of loading.
(b) There shall be a lowermost distribution of light, or composite beam, so aimed that:
(1) When the vehicle is not loaded, none of the high-intensity portion of the light that is directed to the left of the prolongation of the extreme left side of the vehicle shall, at a distance of 25 feet ahead, project higher than a level of 8 inches below the level of the center of the lamp from which it comes;
(2) When the vehicle is not loaded, none of the high-intensity portion of the light that is directed to the right of the prolongation of the extreme right side of the vehicle shall, at a distance of 25 feet ahead, project higher than a level of 3 inches below the level of the center of the lamp from which it comes; and
(3) In no event shall any of the high-intensity of such lowermost distribution of light or composite beam project higher than a level of 42 inches above the level on which the vehicle stands at a distance of 75 feet ahead.
(c) Where one intermediate beam is provided, the beam on the left side of the road shall be in conformity with subsection (b)(1).
(d) All road-lighting beams shall be so aimed and of sufficient intensity to reveal a person or vehicle at a distance of at least 100 feet ahead.
(e) Every new motor vehicle registered in the city that has multiple-beam road-lighting equipment shall be equipped with a beam indicator, which shall be lighted whenever the uppermost distribution of light from the head lamps is in use, and shall not otherwise be lighted. Such indicator shall be so designed and located that when lighted, it will be readily visible without glare to the driver of the vehicle so equipped.
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Published by the City and County of Honolulu through American Legal Publishing.
LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.