SB 1411 Virginia Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Lighted vehicle headlights; lawful stop by law-enforcement officer.

Summary
Lighted vehicle headlights; lawful stop by law-enforcement officer. Clarifies that any evidence discovered or obtained following the lawful stop by a law-enforcement officer of a vehicle displaying no lighted headlights may be offered as evidence in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding if such evidence is otherwise admissible.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Feb 2025
House of Delegates Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 15, 2025 Last action Feb 18, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Courts of Justice Substitute · 2 edits
MINOR
The original bill text was replaced with a Senate substitute version that contains the same substantive policy language but includes formatting changes and a critical modification to the evidence admissibility rule. The substitute version clarifies that evidence obtained from a lawful stop (where headlights are not displayed during required times) may be admissible in court, whereas the original version had prohibited such evidence entirely.
ENFORCEMENT

The admissibility of evidence obtained from a traffic stop was changed. The original bill prohibited using any evidence from a stop made for a headlight violation. The substitute version now allows evidence from a lawful stop (where headlights are not displayed) to be used in court if it is otherwise admissible, while still excluding evidence from stops made in violation of the law.

TECHNICAL

The document format changed from an introduced bill to a Senate substitute amendment, with line numbers and formatting adjustments that do not affect the policy content.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 4, 2025

How they voted

400
Passed
Total votes 40
Feb 4, 2025
D Democratic21
21 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican19
19 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
20
Key actions
3
Committee
7
Feb 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (5-Y 3-N)
lower
Feb 11, 2025
Committee
Assigned Courts sub: Criminal
lower
Feb 11, 2025
Committee
Referred from Transportation and referred to Courts of Justice (Voice Vote)
lower
Feb 7, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on Transportation
lower
Feb 4, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (34-Y 6-N)
upper
Feb 3, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (12-Y 3-N)
upper
Jan 23, 2025
Committee
Rereferred from Transportation and rereferred to Courts of Justice (9-Y 0-N)
upper
Jan 15, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on Transportation
upper
Jan 15, 2025
Introduced
Presented and ordered printed 25103890D
upper
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors