CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — Many of us remember a long car trip with our parents when we were kids, where maybe, we got a little bored and started playing with the car’s interior lights, only to be told to stop doing that immediately because they’ll be pulled over.
Like lots of things you were told when you were a kid, you may have gotten curious and Googled “Is it actually illegal to have your interior lights on while driving?” as an adult, just to see if you were “taken for a ride.”
If you’ve done that, all of the results that you’ll see will say that driving with your interior lights on isn’t illegal, or is legal “in most states.” While it’s not illegal, it’s something people generally avoid out of concern over their ability to see, as well as other drivers’ ability to see.
But what about in West Virginia?
The West Virginia State Code’s section §17C-15-26 includes restrictions on lamps while driving. It doesn’t explicitly say that a car’s interior lights can not be on while driving, although it does include a provision that could impact drivers with custom or colored lights inside their cars:
(b) No person may drive or move any vehicle or equipment upon any highway with any lamp or device on the vehicle displaying other than a white or amber light visible from directly in front of the center of the vehicle except as authorized by §17C-15-26(d) of this code.
West Virginia State Code
Those authorizations include certain flashing colors for various types of emergency vehicles, response vehicles and school buses.
While it might not be illegal, most experts still suggest you avoid driving with the interior light on, because you could get pulled over for distracted driving.
