(a) Every motor vehicle and every trailer or semitrailer that is being drawn at the end of a train of vehicles shall carry at the rear a lamp of a type that exhibits a yellow or red light plainly visible under normal atmospheric conditions from a distance of five hundred feet (500′) to the rear of the vehicle, and the light shall be so constructed and placed that the number plate carried on the rear of the vehicle shall under like conditions be so illuminated by a white light as to be read from a distance of fifty feet (50′) to the rear of the vehicle.

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class C misdemeanorup to 30 daysup to $50
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 55-9-404

  • Semitrailer: means every vehicle with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that some part of its weight and that of its load rests upon or is carried by another vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Trailer: means every vehicle with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that no part of its weight rests upon the towing vehicle. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Vehicle: means every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
(b) This section shall not apply to a single motor vehicle as is required in § 55-9-402, but shall only apply to the last motor vehicle being drawn at the end of a train or group of motor vehicles.
(c) A violation of this section is a Class C misdemeanor.