46.2-1043 - Tire tread depth.
§ 46.2-1043. Tire tread depth.
A. No person shall operate a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer on anyhighway in the Commonwealth if it is equipped with one or more tires which:
1. When measured in any two adjacent major tread grooves where the tread isthinnest, at three equally spaced intervals around the circumference of thetire and exclusive of "tiebars" by a tread depth gauge calibrated inthirty-seconds of an inch, are found to have tread depth of less than twothirty-seconds of an inch at such locations; or
2. When equipped with tread wear indicators, are found to have suchindicators in contact with pavement at any two adjacent grooves at threeequally spaced intervals around the circumference of the tire.
B. No motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer shall be issued a safetyinspection approval sticker if equipped with any tire whose use is prohibitedunder the provisions of this section.
C. This section shall not apply to tires mounted on dual wheels installed onmotor vehicles which have seats for more than seven passengers and are (i)operated wholly within a municipality, or (ii) operated by urban and suburbanbus lines. For purposes of this section, "urban and suburban bus lines"are defined as bus lines operating over regular scheduled routes the majorityof whose passengers use the buses for traveling one-way distances notexceeding forty miles on the same day between their residence and their placeof work, shopping areas, or schools.
D. The foregoing exemptions shall not apply to buses owned or operated by anypublic school district, private school, or contract operator of school buses.
E. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any vehicle not requiredto be registered or licensed.
(1968, c. 145, § 46.1-295.3; 1973, c. 162; 1983, c. 281; 1984, c. 125; 1989,c. 727.)