Do Bike Racks Need Lights?

Short answer: if your loaded rack hides your brake lights, turn signals, tail lights or plate, yes. If it doesn't, no.

You don't have to take my word for which one you are. You can find out in your driveway in two minutes.

The two-minute test

Load the bikes the way they really ride. Get someone in the driver's seat. Walk about 30 feet straight back.

• Brake — can you see both brake lights without leaning?

• Left signal, then right — is each one clear from straight behind?

• Tail lights — try it at dusk if you can.

• Plate — can you read every character?

If you have to hunt for any of them, you need lights. I learned this one the hard way, when an officer pulled me over. Here's the full story, and the longer checklist.

I'm not the only one. In the busy season, about five to seven people a month get in touch with me after being pulled over for it. It's not a huge number, but people are definitely getting pulled over.

What the law says in California

I'm not a lawyer. I live in California, and our Vehicle Code spells it out plainly:

• Brake lights — "plainly visible and understandable from a distance of 300 feet from the rear of the vehicle both during normal sunlight and at nighttime." (Section 24603)

• Tail lights — on anything built after 1969, "plainly visible from all distances within 1,000 feet to the rear." (Section 24600)

• License plate — mounted "so as to be clearly visible" and kept "clearly legible." (Section 5201)

None of those says "unless there's a bike in the way."

Other states word it differently. Read your own. I went through Minnesota's line by line in is it illegal to block your license plate with a bike rack.

When you can skip it

• Roof racks. The bikes ride above the car, and nothing at the back is covered.

• Any setup that passes the test. Some vehicles carry their lights high or wide enough that a bike leaves them clear. If yours passes, you're done. Check the plate too, even with the rack empty.

When you almost always need one

• A hitch rack with bikes.

• A trunk rack. The bikes hang right across the back of the car.

• Night driving and rain, when the driver behind you is relying on your lights the most.

What a rack light has to do

It has to do the jobs your hidden lights were doing: brake, turn and tail. That means it plugs into your vehicle's trailer connector (4-pin or 7-blade), so it follows your brake pedal and your turn signal. A light that just glows or blinks on its own battery isn't standing in for your brake lights.

California's code points any extra brake light at the federal lighting standard, FMVSS 108. Every Kody light is built to it.

Not sure which connector you have? Here's how to tell.

Getting one that fits your rack

Start with your rack. Most of what we build is made for one specific rack, and it goes on with no drilling and no modifications. Find yours on our lights by rack brand page.

If we don't make one for your rack, the Flex Universal straps to almost anything, trunk racks included. Kits start at $160.

If the plate is the problem, there are two ways to fix it. Buying a Kody light? Add the plate holder add-on. Just need the plate moved? The pivoting plate holder works on its own.