Are whilte lights legal on the rear of a trike? I will make this short and to the point …
NO !!!
Yet we see trikers using them all the time. I guess many just like to spurn the law. And I am amazed that most of them seem to get away with it. I have not yet seen the police pay any attention to it around where I live. That surprises me and, I have to admit, disappoints me. I believe the law should be enforced.
As can be seen in the picture up above I tried a white light on the rear of my trike awhile back. It had plenty of red lights as well, but it really stood out. I didn’t leave it on my trike as I didn’t want to be in violation of the law.
The reason it is against the law is simple enough. It is confusing to others. In short, they don’t know whether you are coming or going and that is because white lights belong on the front of a vehicle. Most people who see a white light on a vehicle just assume, and rightfully so, that they are looking at the front of the vehicle. After all, that is where the law requires white lights to be. So if you are one of those who insist on having white lights on the rear of your trike you better hope you don’t get involved in a bad accident. Someone might come along and try to twist your head around 180 degrees thinking it is facing the wrong direction. LOL Seriously, I know having a white light on the rear of a trike can be eye catching, but it really is illegal … to the best of my knowledge in all 50 states in the U.S. I would recommend a high intensity red light. They are extremely visible and they are legal. I am talking about daytime use. Riding at night one should not use these extremely bright lights as they are too much and can cause problems for others as they are simply blinding. In the daytime though they work great.
BE SEEN, BE SAFE!!!
A FREE GIFT awaits you!
Tadpole Rider 
It can be tough on other trikers trying to follow also, blinding! I was following a DF rider on a park trail ride a couple of weeks ago that had a white light flashing in the daytime. It was mounted on his rear drop out and was right at my eye level! It was daytime and still was blinding!
On Mon, Apr 17, 2017 at 11:02 PM, Tadpole Rider wrote:
> Steve Newbauer posted: ” Are whilte lights legal on the rear of a trike? > I will make this short and to the point … NO !!! Yet we see trikers using > them all the time. I guess many just like to spurn the law. And I am amazed > that most of them seem to get away with it. I have ” >
Now I never knew that it was illegal, and I had a white light on the back of my ride for a long time.. However it was a flashing white light, and not a single white beam, and not particularly very bright either, it was one of those little flashing lights you buy for a buck, in almost any sporting goods section of Walmart, or Kmart… And is sold I believe with a card in the back that suggests where you can add this light for it to be seen… If I had known better I would have not added to the back of my ride.. I just liked the way it looked in the rear, and thought it to be OK so long as it was flashing and not a solid beam as I had mentioned previously in my comment.. I do know, and have known that blue lights to be illegal as this color is to be left for law enforcement only, as a yellow flashing light is meant for motor vehicles to slow for road maintenance, and tow vehicles…! But now that I do know I will be removing the white light and re position it with the light flashing towards on coming traffic instead…! Thanks for bring this to us Steve, and as always a great posting…!
Armadillo Zack