In NC, can rank-and-file volunteer firefighters install modulating (flashing) headlights on their personal cars to use when responding to a fire call?

Plain-English summary

Sergeant Chuck Owens of the Rockingham County Sheriff's Department wrote the AG in 1993 to ask whether rank-and-file volunteer firefighters could equip their private cars with modulating headlights for use during fire calls. Senior Deputy AG William N. Farrell, Jr., and Special Deputy AG Isaac T. Avery, III answered no, attaching as the substantive answer a 1987 letter opinion from Chief Deputy AG Andrew A. Vanore, Jr.

The Vanore letter, in response to a 1987 inquiry from attorney Robert D. Rouse, Jr., had already settled the underlying question. G.S. 20-125(a) requires certain vehicles to be equipped with "special lights, bells, sirens, horns or exhaust whistles of a type approved by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles," and authorizes "the chief and assistant chiefs of . . . any fire department . . . to use such special equipment on privately owned vehicles operated by them while actually engaged in the performance of their official or semi-official duties or services." The statute, by its terms, names only chiefs and assistant chiefs. Other volunteer firefighters are not in the authorized class.

The 1987 letter did expand the substantive scope of "special equipment" itself. The statute did not define "special lights" or "special equipment," so the AG construed the terms in their common and ordinary meaning, taking care not to defeat the statute's purpose, citing Lafayette Transportation Services, Inc. v. County of Robeson, 283 N.C. 494 (1973). The Vanore letter concluded that "such special equipment" referred to the full list of "special lights, bells, sirens, etc.," and that "special lights" was broad enough to cover modulating headlamps, not just red or blue rotating beacons. A narrow reading limited to red and blue lights would have undermined the statutory purpose of letting authorized emergency responders warn other drivers of their presence. Modulating headlamps approved by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles therefore fall within the chief's and assistant chief's permitted equipment, but only for those officers, not for the rest of the volunteer roster.

The 1993 cover letter is the AG's reaffirmation of the 1987 conclusion in response to a new inquiry. Both letters are advisory opinions, not formal published opinions in the Attorney General Reports.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1993 (drawing on a 1987 advisory). Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Chapter 20 has been amended many times since 1993, and the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles has updated which devices the office approves under G.S. 20-125(a). Anyone planning to equip a private vehicle with emergency lighting today should consult current Chapter 20, current DMV equipment-approval lists, and counsel familiar with NC vehicle-equipment law.

Common questions

Q: Why did the statute authorize chiefs and assistant chiefs but not regular volunteers?
A: The legislature wanted senior fire-department officers to be able to respond directly to a scene from home or off-duty without first stopping by the station to swap into a marked vehicle. Chiefs and assistant chiefs typically need to take command. The general body of volunteers usually staffs the apparatus rather than rushing in their own cars, so the legislature drew the equipment line at the leadership tier.

Q: Does this mean a regular volunteer cannot use any warning device at all on a private car?
A: It means a regular volunteer cannot use the special equipment authorized only for chiefs and assistant chiefs under G.S. 20-125(a). Other equipment that is legal for any motorist (for example, ordinary headlights, hazard flashers, or a courtesy windshield placard for parking) is unaffected. The opinion is specifically about modulating headlamps and the special-equipment category that includes them.

Q: What counts as a "modulating headlight"?
A: A modulating headlight is a standard high beam that rapidly alternates between high and low intensity to attract attention, rather than a separate red or blue strobe. Approved modulating headlamps are common on motorcycles and on some emergency response vehicles. The 1987 Vanore letter is what brought modulating lights inside the "special lights" category for purposes of G.S. 20-125(a), not a separate statute targeting modulating systems.

Q: What is "actually engaged in the performance of their official or semi-official duties or services"?
A: The statute uses that phrase to limit when an authorized chief or assistant chief can switch the special equipment on. The chief cannot just drive around with strobes on the family car for fun, or for personal travel unrelated to the fire department. The equipment is only for use while the chief is actually responding to a fire call or otherwise engaged in fire-department duties. Off-duty personal driving is not covered.

Q: How is this enforced if a regular volunteer puts modulating lights on a personal car?
A: Through normal traffic enforcement. A law-enforcement officer who sees unauthorized special equipment can stop the vehicle and cite the driver. The chief-and-assistant-chief authorization in G.S. 20-125(a) is a narrow safe harbor; a volunteer outside that class who installs the equipment is using prohibited special equipment and is subject to the usual penalties for that violation.

Background and statutory framework

G.S. 20-125(a) is part of NC's vehicle-equipment chapter and governs special audible and visual warning equipment on cars and trucks. The basic statutory pattern is that special lights and sirens are restricted to authorized emergency vehicles, with specific exceptions for the leadership of fire and similar emergency services on their privately owned vehicles. The chief-and-assistant-chief carve-out lets command staff respond to a call in their own car, but the carve-out is narrowly worded and the AG read it accordingly.

The 1987 Vanore letter is the substantive analytical move. It expanded the category of "special lights" beyond red and blue rotating beacons to include modulating headlamps, on the theory that the legislative purpose is to give emergency responders the ability to warn other drivers of their presence and that no language in the statute limited "special lights" to a particular color or pattern. The 1993 cover letter takes that expanded substantive scope as given and applies the chief-and-assistant-chief limitation strictly.

Citations

• N.C.G.S. § 20-125(a) (authorized vehicles' special equipment; chief and assistant chiefs of fire department may use such equipment on personally owned vehicles while actually engaged in official duties)
• Lafayette Transportation Services, Inc. v. County of Robeson, 283 N.C. 494, 196 S.E.2d 770 (1973) (NC Supreme Court; undefined statutory terms take their common and ordinary meaning, construed to avoid defeating the statute's objective)

Source

• Landing page: https://ncdoj.gov/opinions/use-of-modulating-headlights-on-fire-cheifs-or-assistant-ch-iefs-private-vehicles/

Original opinion text

July 20, 1993

Sergeant Chuck Owens
Rockingham County Sheriff's Department
PO Box 86
Wentworth, NC 27375-0086

Dear Sergeant Owens:

I am enclosing a copy of the letter opinion previously issued by Chief Deputy Attorney General Andrew A. Vanore, Jr., authorizing only the Chief and Assistant Fire Chief to use modulating headlights and other special equipment. The statute does not authorize the use of such devices by other volunteer fire department personnel. Accordingly, these other volunteers may not lawfully use modulating headlights on their personally owned vehicles.

This correspondence is an advisory opinion and, as such, will not be published in the Attorney General Reports.

William N. Farrell, Jr.
Senior Deputy Attorney General

Isaac T. Avery, III
Special Deputy Attorney General

[Enclosure]

August 7, 1987

Mr. Robert D. Rouse, Jr.
150 Arlington Place
Greenville, North Carolina

Re: Use of Modulating Headlights on Fire Chief's or Assistant Chief's Private Vehicles

Dear Bob:

In your correspondence of July 17, 1987, you asked whether a fire chief or assistant chiefs may lawfully use modulating headlamps on a private vehicle when responding to a fire call. The answer to your question is yes.

G.S. 20-125(a) requires certain vehicles to be equipped with "special lights, bells, sirens, horns or exhaust whistles of a type approved by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles." The statute also authorizes, but does not require, "the chief and assistant chiefs of . . . any fire department . . . to use such special equipment on privately owned vehicles operated by them while actually engaged in the performance of their official or semi-official duties or services . . . ". Thus, the only issues raised by your question are whether the term "such special equipment" refers to the phrase "special lights, bells, sirens . . .", and whether modulating headlamps are considered "special lights" and therefore included in the term "special equipment" as it is used in the statute.

The statute does not contain a definition of either "special lights" or "special equipment". Therefore, the terms must be given their common and ordinary meaning and construed in such a way so as to not defeat or impair the statute's objective. Lafayette Transportation Services, Inc. v. County of Robeson, 283 N.C. 494, 196 S.E.2d 770 (1973).

There can be no doubt that the term "such special equipment" was intended to refer to the longer, all inclusive phrase "special lights, bells, sirens . . . etc.". There is no other descriptive listing of "special equipment" in that statute to which it could refer. Whether the term "special lights" was intended to include modulating headlamps is more difficult to determine. The argument could be made that "special lights" includes only red or blue lights. However, such an interpretation would impair the statute's clear purpose which is to authorize the use of special sound and light producing equipment on emergency and law enforcement vehicles to warn operators of other vehicles of their presence. The statute also specifically recognizes chiefs and assistant chiefs of fire departments may, on occasion, be required to perform official duties in their privately owned vehicles and grants them authority to use special equipment in doing so. Therefore, in order to carry out the Legislature's intent, it should be concluded that chiefs and assistant chiefs are authorized to use any and all special warning equipment in performing their duties provided the equipment has been approved by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles.

I hope this letter has answered your question. If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

LACY H. THORNBURG Attorney General

Andrew A. Vanore, Jr.
Chief Deputy Attorney General