This section generally bans driving or installing certain visible TV/video screens in moving motor vehicles, with listed exceptions, and authorizes law enforcement officers to use video equipment in their vehicles while on duty.
§365. Television A.(1) Except as provided in this Section, no person shall drive a motor vehicle which is equipped with a television receiver, screen, or other means of visually receiving a television broadcast or a video signal that produces entertainment or business applications where the moving images are visible to the driver while the motor vehicle is in motion. Additionally, no retailer shall install a television receiver, screen, or other means of receiving a visual television broadcast or video signal that produces entertainment or business applications, in a motor vehicle at any point which would make the moving images visible to the driver while the motor vehicle is in motion. The provisions of this Paragraph shall also apply to "digital versatile disc" or "digital video disc" players which are also commonly known as DVD players. (2) The provisions of Paragraph (1) of this Subsection shall not apply to the following equipment when installed in a motor vehicle: (a) A vehicle information display. (b) A navigation or global positioning display. (c) A mapping display. (d) A visual display used to monitor the area immediately around a motor vehicle for the purpose of maneuvering the vehicle. (e) A television receiver, video monitor, television or video screen that produces entertainment or business applications, or any other similar means of visually displaying a television broadcast or video signal, if that equipment has a device that, when the motor vehicle is being driven, disables the equipment for all uses except as a visual display as described in Subparagraphs (a) through (d) of this Paragraph. (3) The provisions of Paragraph (1) of this Subsection shall not apply to a self-contained motor home which is in excess of twenty-one feet in length. B.(1) Law enforcement officers of the state or any political subdivision shall be authorized to operate video recording equipment and monitors in their law enforcement vehicles while in the performance of their duties. (2) Agents, contractors, or subcontractors of an agency, office, local municipality, local authority, or any political subdivision of this state with the authority to enforce traffic regulations shall be strictly prohibited from using video recording equipment and monitors while in the performance of their duties for the purpose of monitoring, recording, and issuing a traffic citation by mail, except as required to provide the ministerial tasks of providing law enforcement with video evidence necessary for law enforcement to make a determination to issue a traffic citation. Acts 1962, No. 310, §1; Acts 1992, No. 834, §1; Acts 2003, No. 1171, §1; Acts 2006, No. 751, §1, eff. June 30, 2006; Acts 2007, No. 45, §1, eff. June 18, 2007; Acts 2011, No. 174, §1; Acts 2024, No. 103, §1, eff. May 21, 2024.