Transportation

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.

Study; Virginia Department of Transportation; alternatives to use of Sodium Chloride to treat and pretreat roadways for winter weather; report. Directs the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to conduct a study on safe and environmentally sensitive alternatives to using Sodium Chloride, or rock salt, to treat and pretreat roadways for winter weather. Such study shall measure the impact of current treatment and pretreatment substances on infrastructure and the environment and their corrosive effects on personal property and compare such impacts with those of potential alternatives, including nonchemical substances and new technologies. VDOT is directed to submit a report to the chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Transportation by November 15, 2026, on its findings and include in such report an accounting of the annual spending by the state and local governments since 2020 on treating and pretreating activities and the amounts budgeted for 2026-2028.

Traffic regulation; bicycles, electric personal assistive mobility devices, electric power-assisted bicycles, and motorized skateboards or scooters. Authorizes any person operating a bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, electric power-assisted bicycle, or motorized skateboard or scooter to yield instead of stop at an intersection controlled by a stop sign if certain conditions are met. The bill also authorizes such a person to proceed through the intersection on a steady red light if the pedestrian control signal corresponding to the person's direction of travel and to the parallel crosswalk indicates "Walk" and if certain other conditions are met. The bill requires any such persons riding two abreast on roadways with only one travel lane in the direction of such persons and a posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour or more to not impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic. Under current law, such persons riding two abreast are required to not impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic and are required to move into a single-file formation when being overtaken from the rear by a faster moving vehicle, regardless of the type of road and posted speed limit.

Speed safety cameras, pedestrian crossing violation monitoring systems, and stop sign violation monitoring systems; placement and operation; violation enforcement; civil penalties. Authorizes state and local law-enforcement agencies to place and operate pedestrian crossing violation and stop sign violation monitoring systems in school crossing zones, highway work zones, and high-risk speed corridors for purposes of recording pedestrian crossing and stop sign violations, as those terms are defined in the bill. The bill changes the terms "photo speed monitoring device" to "speed safety camera" and "high-risk intersection segment" to "high-risk speed corridor" in provisions related to vehicle speed violations. The bill makes various changes to the requirements for the use of speed safety cameras and extends most of those requirements to the use of pedestrian crossing violation and stop sign violation monitoring systems. The bill requires local law-enforcement agencies implementing or expanding the use of pedestrian crossing violation and stop sign violation monitoring systems, prior to the implementation or expansion of such systems, to conduct a public awareness program for such implementation or expansion.The bill also limits the use of speed safety cameras, pedestrian crossing violation monitoring systems, and stop sign violation monitoring systems in highway work zones to when workers are present, as defined in the bill, and provides that a certificate sworn to or affirmed by a law-enforcement officer or a retired sworn law-enforcement officer is not prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein for a speed safety camera, pedestrian crossing violation monitoring system, or stop sign violation monitoring system, as applicable, placed in a highway work zone unless the operator of the speed safety camera, pedestrian crossing violation monitoring system, or stop sign violation monitoring system, respectively, provides a sworn certification verifying that workers were present at the time of the violation.The bill directs the Supreme Court of Virginia to develop a summons for violations captured by speed safety cameras, pedestrian crossing violation monitoring systems, and stop sign violation monitoring systems and requires summonses issued for such violations to be such summons. The bill also establishes civil penalties for violations of requirements and provides that for any summons issued, failure to comply with the requirements for the operation of speed safety cameras, pedestrian crossing violation monitoring systems, or stop sign violation monitoring systems, as applicable, render such summons invalid.The bill contains delayed effective dates for certain provisions.

Driver improvement clinics; motorcycle driver improvement clinics; Motorcycle Driver Improvement Clinic Fund; created. Creates motorcycle driver improvement clinics, defined in the bill, as a subset of existing driver improvement clinics and provides requirements and parameters for the instruction and administration of the motorcycle driver improvement clinics. The bill authorizes courts to direct defendants who have committed violations while operating a motorcycle to attend a motorcycle driver improvement clinic and satisfy the requirements thereof. The bill also creates the Motorcycle Driver Improvement Clinic Fund for the operation and administration of motorcycle driver improvement clinics. The bill specifies that priority be given to the creation of motorcycle driver improvement clinics that operate as computer-based clinics.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 33.2-359, 33.2-371, 33.2-1526, 33.2-1526.1, 33.2-3102, 33.2-3401, 33.2-3402, 33.2-3403, 33.2-3502, 46.2-774, and 46.2-2099.48 of the Code of Virginia; to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 2 of Chapter 19 of Title 33.2 a section numbered 33.2-1904.1, by adding in Article 11 of Chapter 19 of Title 33.2 a section numbered 33.2-1937, by adding in Chapter 24 of Title 33.2 a section numbered 33.2-2402, by adding in Chapter 7 of Title 46.2 a section numbered 46.2-775, by adding a section numbered 58.1-603.3, and by adding in Chapter 17 of Title 58.1 articles numbered 13, 14, and 15, consisting of sections numbered 58.1-1749, 58.1-1750, and 58.1-1751; and to repeal § 33.2-3100.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to transportation funding.

Emergency vehicles; exempt from certain traffic regulations. Authorizes a law-enforcement vehicle, defined in current law, operated by or under the direction of a federal, state, or local law-enforcement officer to disregard parking and stopping provisions and expands the situations in which such vehicles may disregard speed limits to include when establishing evidence of other violations of law and when responding to an emergency in which emergency lights and siren may pose a safety risk.