Is it legal to decorate cars with holiday lights in Virginia?

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- 'Tis the season for holiday decorations! But for those thinking of wrapping their vehicles in holiday lights, you may want to think again...

The commonwealth has several laws that specify what kinds of headlights, tail lights, brake lights, auxiliary lights are legal for vehicles. The requirements are dependent on the type of vehicle -- different laws for privately owned passenger cars compared to emergency vehicles, for example.

According to Virginia State Police, violating these laws can result in misdemeanors or even felonies depending on the offense.

While the Code of Virginia does not explicitly mention multi-colored holiday string lights in its prohibitions, they are illegal for several reasons.

Firstly, privately owned passenger cars are not permitted to display colors that would typically be associated with emergency lights -- such as blue, green, purple and others associated with different emergency signals. Red is only permitted for brake lights. Flashing lights are even more restricted.

There are also restrictions on the amount of of lights a privately owned vehicle can have. In Virginia, vehicles can only have up to two fog lights, two auxiliary lights, two daytime running lights and two side lights at any time.

It is also illegal for a vehicle's permitted lights -- headlights, brake lights, etc. -- to be obscured by wire, unapproved lenses, plastic covers or "any other materials that are not original equipment." Vehicles are also prohibited from having lights placed less than 15 inches above the surface of the road.

In addition to all of the previous laws, vehicles are prohibited from operating with defective or unsafe equipment.