Virtually everyone has a childhood memory of being scolded for turning on a light inside the family car while it was in motion.
Some parents, perhaps in attempting to control their fidgety kids, may have even told them that driving with the light on was illegal. But that is not true, at least under New Jersey law.
Still, traffic safety experts advise against motorists using the light while on the road. Doing so can be distracting and may lead to other activities which are explicitly not allowed.
Here is what to know about the use of interior car lights from a legal perspective.
Is it legal to drive with the car interior light on?
Most states do not have any laws about turning on lights inside the car. Quality Automotive, an auto repair company in Blairstown, confirmed on its website that New Jersey is among the states without any such guidance.
However, the reason for needing to use the light may fall under the category of “distracted driving,” according to the insurance agency Policygenius. A driver who turns the light on for another task risks getting a ticket for not paying attention behind the wheel.
“If a police officer sees you driving with your interior lights on and you seem to be rummaging around for something, or looking down from the view ahead of you, they may pull you over because you’re clearly not focused on the road,” the website reads.
Distracted driving is potentially dangerous for all occupants of the vehicle, as well as other drivers and pedestrians in the area. A University of Michigan study specifically on interior lighting systems found that turning them on could “reduce forward sight distance” by up to 20%.
“So while the interior lights aren’t technically illegal, the reason you turned them on may be,” according to Policygenius.
In other words, your parents may have lied to you, or at least been unfamiliar with the law, when ordering you to stop playing with the car light as a child. But by doing so, they were simply following proper safety protocols.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Is it legal to drive with the car interior light on? A look at NJ law