Title 46.2, Motor Vehicles

The governing body of any county, city, or town may, by ordinance, provide that every person 14 years of age or younger shall wear a protective helmet that at least meets the Consumer Product Safety Commission standard whenever riding or being carried on a bicycle, an electric pe…

A person riding a bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, electric power-assisted bicycle, motorized skateboard or foot-scooter, or moped may overtake and pass another vehicle on either the left or right side, staying in the same lane as the overtaken vehicle, or ch…

Any person who owns a bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, electric personal delivery device, or electric power-assisted bicycle may register its serial number with the local law-enforcement agency of the political subdivision in which such person resides.

All electric personal assistive mobility devices, electrically powered toy vehicles, and electric power-assisted bicycles shall be equipped with spill-proof, sealed, or gelled electrolyte batteries. No person shall at any time or at any location operate (i) an electric personal a…

A. A personal delivery device is authorized to operate on any sidewalk or crosswalk located in any county, city, or town in the Commonwealth. If a sidewalk or crosswalk is not accessible or available, a personal delivery device is authorized to operate on the side of any roadway …

Every person operating a motorcycle, as defined in § 46.2-100, excluding three-wheeled vehicles, shall ride only upon the permanent seat attached to the motorcycle, unless safety dictates standing on both footpegs for no longer than is necessary. Such operator shall not carry any…

A. Every person operating a motorcycle or autocycle shall wear a face shield, safety glasses or goggles, or have his motorcycle or autocycle equipped with safety glass or a windshield at all times while operating the vehicle, and operators and any passengers thereon shall wear pr…

No person shall operate a motor-driven cycle on or over any public highway in the Commonwealth.

A. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, motorcycles may be operated without headlights, horns, or rearview mirrors on public highways if all the following conditions are met: 1. The motorcycles are designed for use in trail riding and endurance runs; 2. The motorcycles are…

Every retailer of motorcycles having a rating of seven horsepower or less, shall provide written statements to every vendee regarding registration and licensing of such vehicles and the requirement of a motor vehicle driver's license.

A. No moped shall be driven on any highway or public vehicular area faster than 35 miles per hour. Any person who operates a moped faster than 35 miles per hour shall be deemed, for all the purposes of this title, to be operating a motorcycle. B. No moped shall be driven on any h…

Any dealer who sells any moped at retail shall affix to any such moped, or verify that there is affixed thereto a permanent decal or sticker which states (i) that the operation of mopeds on highways and public vehicular areas by persons under the age of sixteen is prohibited by V…

A. No all-terrain vehicle shall be operated: 1. On any public highway, or other public property, except (i) as authorized by proper authorities, (ii) to the extent necessary to cross a public highway by the most direct route, or (iii) by law-enforcement officers, firefighters, or…

Every person operating a moped, as defined in § 46.2-100, on a public street or highway shall wear a face shield, safety glasses, or goggles of a type approved by the Superintendent or have his moped equipped with safety glass or a windshield at all times while operating such veh…

The governing bodies of counties, cities, and towns may by ordinance provide for the lawful seizure, impounding and disposition of unlicensed or unregistered motorcycles operated either on the highways or on private property without the consent of the private property owner.

It shall be unlawful for any motor vehicle licensed in Virginia having a seating capacity of more than 15 persons to be operated on the highways of the Commonwealth if it is yellow, unless it is used in transporting students who attend public, private, or religious schools or use…

Notwithstanding § 46.2-917, any person may contract to hire school buses for the purpose of transporting students to or from school, camp, or any other place during any part of the year. All provisions of this title applicable to school buses shall also apply to any school bus hi…

Notwithstanding § 46.2-917, any person holding a special or charter party certificate issued by the State Corporation Commission or the Department pursuant to Chapter 23 (§ 46.2-2300 et seq.) of this title may transport special or charter parties in school buses provided all lett…

All school buses transporting pupils to and from all public, private, or religious schools or in connection with such schools, operating on any highway in the Commonwealth which has two or more roadways separated by a physical barrier or barriers or an unpaved area, or which have…

It shall be unlawful for any person, whether licensed or not, who is under the age of eighteen years to drive a motor vehicle while in use as a school bus for the transportation of pupils.

No person shall use any wireless telecommunications device, whether handheld or otherwise, while driving a school bus, except in case of an emergency, or when the vehicle is lawfully parked and for the purposes of dispatching. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibi…

A. The driver of any emergency vehicle, when such vehicle is being used in the performance of public services, and when such vehicle is operated under emergency conditions, may, without subjecting himself to criminal prosecution: 1. Disregard speed limits, while having due regard…

A. When operating at or en route to or from the scene of a traffic accident or similar emergency and when specifically directed by a law-enforcement officer present at the scene of a motor vehicle crash or similar incident, tow truck operators or vehicles owned or controlled by t…

Any vehicle authorized to be equipped with flashing, blinking, or alternating amber warning lights pursuant to subdivision A 1 or 2 of § 46.2-1025 may be equipped with a portable changeable message sign. Such portable changeable message sign may be used without prior authorizatio…

When specifically requested by a law-enforcement agency to rescue or euthanize injured wildlife, vehicles owned or controlled by the Wildlife Center of Virginia may: 1. Cross medians of divided highways; 2. Use cross-overs and turn-arounds otherwise reserved for use only by autho…

It shall be unlawful, in any county, city, or town for the driver of any vehicle, other than one on official business, to follow any fire apparatus or emergency medical services vehicle traveling in response to a fire alarm or emergency call at any distance closer than 500 feet t…

It shall be unlawful, without the consent of the fire department official in command, for the driver of any vehicle to drive over any unprotected hose of a fire department laid down for use at any fire or alarm of fire.

A. When crossing highways, pedestrians shall not carelessly or maliciously interfere with the orderly passage of vehicles. They shall cross, wherever possible, only at intersections or marked crosswalks. Where intersections contain no marked crosswalks, pedestrians shall not be g…

A. The driver of any vehicle on a highway shall stop when any pedestrian crossing such highway is within the driver's lane or within an adjacent lane and approaching the driver's lane until such pedestrian has passed the lane in which the vehicle is stopped: 1. At any clearly mar…

Whenever pedestrian control signals exhibiting the words, numbers, or symbols meaning "Walk" or "Don't Walk" are in place such signals shall indicate and apply to pedestrians as follows: Walk. --Pedestrians facing such signal may proceed across the highway in the direction of the…

A. No pedestrian shall step into a highway open to moving vehicular traffic at any point between intersections where his presence would be obscured from the vision of drivers of approaching vehicles by a vehicle or other obstruction at the curb or side. The foregoing prohibition …

When actually boarding or alighting from buses, pedestrians shall have the right-of-way over vehicles, but shall not, in order to board or alight from buses, step into the highway sooner or remain there longer than is absolutely necessary.

Pedestrians shall not use the roadways for travel, except when necessary to do so because of the absence of sidewalks which are reasonably suitable and passable for their use. If they walk on the hard surface, or the main travelled portion of the roadway, they shall keep to the e…

Pedestrians shall not stand or stop in any roadway for the purpose of soliciting rides.

Pedestrians shall not loiter on any bridge or in any portion of the right-of-way of any highway where loitering has been determined by the Commissioner of Highways or the local governing body of any county, city, or town to present a public safety hazard and on which the Commissi…

A. Any county, city, or town is hereby authorized to adopt an ordinance prohibiting or regulating: 1. The distribution of handbills, leaflets, bulletins, literature, advertisements, or similar material to the occupants of motor vehicles on highways located within its boundaries o…

A. No person shall play on a highway, other than on the sidewalks thereof, within a city or town or on any part of a highway outside the limits of a city or town designated by the Commissioner of Highways exclusively for vehicular travel. No person shall use any toy vehicle on th…

The driver of a vehicle approaching a totally or partially blind pedestrian who is carrying a cane predominantly white or metallic in color (with or without a red tip) or using a dog guide shall take all necessary precautions to avoid injury to such blind pedestrian and dog guide…

Whenever a totally or partially blind pedestrian crossing or attempting to cross a highway in accordance with the provisions of § 46.2-923 is guided by a dog guide or carrying a cane which is predominantly metallic or white in color, with or without a red tip, the driver of every…

Nothing contained in § 46.2-933 shall be construed to deprive any totally or partially blind or otherwise incapacitated person not carrying such a cane or walking stick or not being guided by a dog, of the rights and privileges conferred by law upon pedestrians crossing highways.…

The governing bodies of counties, cities, and towns may enact ordinances requiring pedestrians to obey signs and signals erected on highways therein for the direction and control of traffic, to obey the orders of law-enforcement officers engaged in directing traffic on such highw…

Whenever any person is detained by or in the custody of an arresting officer, including an arrest on a warrant, for a violation of any provision of this title punishable as a misdemeanor, the arresting officer shall, except as otherwise provided in § 46.2-940, take the name and a…

For purposes of arrest, traffic infractions shall be treated as misdemeanors. Except as otherwise provided by this title, the authority and duties of arresting officers shall be the same for traffic infractions as for misdemeanors.

Upon the failure of any person to comply with the terms of a summons or notice as provided in § 46.2-936, such person shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and the court may order a warrant for his arrest. The warrant shall be returnable to the court having jurisdiction of the…

Local law-enforcement officers and state police officers, in the course of their duties in the investigation of any accident involving a motor vehicle or vehicles, may, at the scene of any such accident, issue a subpoena to any witness to appear in court and testify with respect …

If any person is (i) believed by the arresting officer to have committed a felony or (ii) believed by the arresting officer to be likely to disregard a summons issued under § 46.2-936, the arresting officer shall promptly take him before a magistrate or other issuing authority ha…