NDCC § 39-21-06. Stop lamps and turn signals required on new motor vehicle
1. A person may not sell, offer for sale, or operate on the highways any motor vehicle registered
in this state and manufactured or assembled after January 1, 1964, unless it is equipped with
at least two stop lamps that are in good working order when lighted, are mounted on the rear
on the same level and as widely spaced laterally as practicable, and meet the requirements of
section 39-21-19 and this section, except that a truck tractor manufactured or assembled after
January 1, 1964, must be equipped with at least one stop lamp meeting the requirements of
section 39-21-19.
2. A person may not sell, offer for sale, or operate on the highways any motor vehicle, trailer, or
semitrailer registered in this state and manufactured or assembled after January 1, 1952,
unless it is equipped with electrical turn signals in good working order which meet the
requirements of section 39-21-19. This subsection does not apply to any trailer or semitrailer of
less than three thousand pounds [1360.78 kilograms] gross weight.
3. A stop lamp on a vehicle must be located at a height of not more than seventy-two inches
[182.88 centimeters] nor less than fifteen inches [38.10 centimeters] from the ground.
NDCC § 39-21-11. Visibility of reflectors, clearance lamps, and marker lamps
1. Every reflector upon any vehicle referred to in section 39-21-08 must be of such size and
characteristics and so maintained as to be readily visible at nighttime from all distances within
six hundred feet [182.88 meters] to one hundred feet [30.48 meters] from the vehicle when
directly in front of lawful lower beams of headlamps, except that the visibility for reflectors on
vehicles manufactured or assembled prior to January 1, 1970, must be measured in front of
lawful upper beams of headlamps. Reflectors required to be mounted on the sides of the
vehicle must reflect the required color of light to the sides, and those mounted on the rear
must reflect a red color to the rear.
2. Front and rear clearance lamps must be capable of being seen and distinguished under
normal atmospheric conditions at the times lights are required at a distance of five hundred
feet [152.4 meters] from the front and rear, respectively, of the vehicle.
3. Side marker lamps must be capable of being seen and distinguished under normal
atmospheric conditions at the times lights are required at a distance of five hundred feet [152.4
meters] from the side of the vehicle on which mounted.
NDCC § 39-21-41. Safety glazing material in motor vehicles
1. No person may sell any new motor vehicle, nor may any new motor vehicle be registered,
unless it is equipped with safety glazing material of a type approved by the department
wherever glazing material is used in doors, windows, and windshields. The foregoing provisions
shall apply to all passenger-type motor vehicles, including passenger buses and schoolbuses,
but in respect to trucks, including truck tractors, the requirements as to safety glazing material
apply to all glazing material used in doors, windows, and windshields in the drivers'
compartment.
2. The term “safety glazing materials” means glazing materials so constructed, treated, or
combined with other materials as to reduce substantially, in comparison with ordinary sheet
glass or plate glass, the likelihood of injury to persons by objects from exterior sources or by
these safety glazing materials when they may be cracked or broken.
3. The department shall maintain a list of types of glazing material by name approved by it as
meeting the requirements of this section and may not register after January 1, 1964, any motor
vehicle which is subject to the provisions of this section unless it is equipped with an approved
type of safety glazing material, and it shall thereafter suspend the registration of any motor
vehicle subject to this section which it finds is not equipped until it is made to conform to the
requirements of this section. The requirements of this section do not apply to antique
automobiles licensed under chapter 39-04.
NDCC § 39-21-41.1. Safety belts
1. Every passenger car manufactured or assembled after January 1, 1965, must be equipped
with lapbelt assemblies for use in the driver's and one other front seating position.
2. All motor vehicles manufactured after January 1, 1968, must be equipped with any lapbelt
or shoulder belt required at the time the vehicle was manufactured by standards of the United
States department of transportation. Nothing in this subsection affects the requirement in
subsection 1 for a lapbelt in the driver's seating position.
3. The department may except specified types of motor vehicles or seating positions within any
motor vehicle from the requirements imposed by subsections 1 and 2 when compliance would
be impractical.
4. No person may install, distribute, have for sale, offer for sale, or sell any belt for use in motor
vehicles unless it meets current minimum standards and specifications of the United States
department of transportation.
5. Every owner shall maintain belts and assemblies required by this section in proper condition
and in a manner that will enable occupants to use them.
NDCC § 39-21-52. Exemption for certain street rod motor vehicles
The provisions of this chapter or chapter 37-12-02 of the North Dakota Administrative Code
relating to bumpers, tires, and fenders do not apply to street rod motor vehicles. However, a
street rod must have all equipment, in operating condition, which was specifically required by
law as a condition for its sale when it was first manufactured. A street rod is a modernized
motor vehicle which was manufactured before 1949 by a recognized manufacturer and which
retains the general appearance and original body configuration as manufactured or a motor
vehicle designed and manufactured to resemble such a motor vehicle. A street rod may have
improved modifications to the body, chassis, engine, brakes, power train, steering, and
suspension systems either by modifying the original equipment or replacing original parts with
fabricated parts or those taken from other existing vehicles. The director may adopt rules to
implement this section.
NDCC § 39-21-22. Single-beam road-lighting equipment
Headlamps arranged to provide a single distribution of light are permitted on motor vehicles
manufactured and sold prior to one year after July 1, 1963, in lieu of multiple-beam roadlighting
equipment herein specified if the single distribution of light complies with the following
requirements and limitations:
1. The headlamps must be so aimed that when the vehicle is not loaded none of the highintensity
portion of the light shall at a distance of twenty-five feet [7.62 meters] ahead project
higher than a level of five inches [12.7 centimeters] below the level of the center of the lamp
from which it comes, and in no case higher than forty-two inches [106.68 centimeters] above
the level on which the vehicle stands at a distance of seventy-five feet [22.86 meters] ahead.
2. The intensity must be sufficient to reveal persons and vehicles at a distance of at least two
hundred feet [60.96 meters].