46.2-1157 - Requirement of inspection; well-drilling machinery, antique motor vehicle or antique trailer and certain commercial motor vehicle, trailers, and semitrailers excepted.
§ 46.2-1157. Requirement of inspection; well-drilling machinery, antiquemotor vehicle or antique trailer and certain commercial motor vehicle,trailers, and semitrailers excepted.
The Superintendent may compel, by proclamation of the Governor or otherwise,the owner or operator of any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailerregistered in Virginia and operated or parked on a highway within thisCommonwealth to submit his vehicle to an inspection of its mechanism andequipment by an official inspection station, designated for that purpose, inaccordance with § 46.2-1158. No owner or operator shall fail to submit amotor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer operated or parked on the highways inthis Commonwealth to such inspection or fail or refuse to correct or havecorrected in accordance with the requirements of this title any mechanicaldefects found by such inspection to exist.
The provisions of this section requiring safety inspections of motor vehiclesshall also apply to vehicles used for fire fighting; inspections offire-fighting vehicles shall be conducted pursuant to regulations promulgatedby the Superintendent of State Police, taking into consideration the specialpurpose of such vehicles and the conditions under which they operate.
Each day during which such motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer is operatedor parked on any highway in this Commonwealth after failure to comply withthis law shall constitute a separate offense. However, no penalty shall beimposed on any owner or operator for operation of a motor vehicle, trailer,or semitrailer after the expiration of a period fixed for the inspectionthereof, over the most direct route between the place where such vehicle iskept or garaged and an official inspection station, for the purpose of havingit inspected pursuant to a prior appointment with such station.
Further, no penalty shall be imposed on any owner or operator of a truck,tractor truck, trailer, or semitrailer for which the period fixed forinspection has expired while the vehicle was outside the Commonwealth andthat penalty is for operation of such vehicle (i) from a point outside theCommonwealth to the place where such vehicle is kept or garaged within theCommonwealth or (ii) to a destination within the Commonwealth where suchvehicle will be (a) unloaded within 24 hours of entering the Commonwealth,(b) inspected within such 24-hour period, and (c) after being unloaded, willbe operated only to an inspection station or to the place where it is kept orgaraged within the Commonwealth.
Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, a new motor vehicle, asdefined in § 46.2-1500, that has been inspected in accordance with aninspection requirement of the manufacturer or distributor of the new motorvehicle by an employee who customarily performs such inspection on behalf ofa motor vehicle dealer licensed pursuant to § 46.2-1508 shall be deemed tohave met the safety inspection requirements of the section without a separatesafety inspection by an official inspection station. Such inspection shall bedeemed to be the first inspection for the purpose of § 46.2-1158, and aninspection approval sticker furnished by the Department of State Police atthe uniform price paid by all official inspection stations to the Departmentof State Police for an inspection approval sticker may be affixed to thevehicle as required by § 46.2-1163.
Any commercial motor vehicle that is subject to the Federal Motor CarrierSafety Regulations shall not be subject to the requirements for inspectioncontained in this section until the commercial motor vehicle has returned tothe Commonwealth if:
1. The commercial motor vehicle is registered in Virginia but domiciled orgaraged outside the Commonwealth;
2. Such commercial motor vehicle is found to meet the federal requirementsfor annual inspection through a self-inspection, a third-party inspection, aCommercial Vehicle Safety Alliance inspection, or a periodic inspectionperformed by any state with a program;
3. Any inspection authorized by subdivision 2 has been determined by theFederal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to be comparable to or aseffective as the requirements of Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, Part396; and
4. Documentation of such determination as provided for in subdivision 3 isavailable for review by law-enforcement officials to verify that theinspection is current.
Further, any trailer or semitrailer that (i) has a gross vehicle weightrating of 26,001 pounds or more and (ii) is operated in interstate commerceshall be deemed to comply with the requirements of this section ifdocumentation on the vehicle that is available for inspection bylaw-enforcement officials verifies that an inspection performed pursuant toTitle 49, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 396, is current and valid.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to any vehicle fortransporting well-drilling machinery licensed under § 46.2-700 or to anyantique motor vehicle or antique trailer as defined in § 46.2-100 andlicensed pursuant to § 46.2-730.
Notwithstanding the penalty provisions of § 46.2-1171, a violation of thissection constitutes a traffic infraction. The court may, in its discretion,dismiss a summons issued under this section where correction of vehicle orsafety equipment defects or proof of compliance with this section is providedto the court subsequent to the issuance of the summons to appear, but suchdismissal shall not operate to relieve the vehicle owner or operator from thecourt costs provided.
(Code 1950, § 46-317; 1950, p. 691; 1958, c. 541, § 46.1-315; 1962, c. 246;1978, cc. 275, 605; 1982, c. 646; 1989, c. 727; 1991, cc. 107, 717; 1993, c.134; 1995, c. 670; 1997, c. 283; 2004, cc. 267, 796; 2007, cc. 75, 137; 2009,cc. 115, 514, 756.)