46.2-704 - Prohibited operations; checking on weights; penalties.
§ 46.2-704. Prohibited operations; checking on weights; penalties.
A. No person shall operate or permit the operation of any motor vehicle,trailer, or semitrailer for which the fee for registration is prescribed by §46.2-697 on any highway in the Commonwealth, under any of the followingcircumstances:
1. Without first having paid the registration fee hereinabove prescribed.
2. If, at the time of the operation, the gross weight of the vehicle or ofthe combination of vehicles of which it is a part, is in excess of the grossweight on the basis of which it is registered. In any case where a pickuptruck is used in combination with another vehicle, operation shall beunlawful only if the combined gross weight exceeds the combined gross weighton the basis of which each vehicle is registered.
B. Any officer authorized to enforce the motor vehicle laws, having reason tobelieve that the gross weight of any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailerbeing operated on any highway in the Commonwealth exceeds that on the basisof which the vehicle is registered, may weigh the vehicle by whatever meansthe Superintendent may prescribe and the operator, or other person inpossession of the vehicle, shall permit this weighing whenever requested bythe officer.
C. Any person who violates any provision of this section or who operates orpermits the operation of a trailer or semitrailer designed for the use ofhuman beings as living quarters, on the highways in the Commonwealth withouthaving first paid to the Commissioner the fee prescribed in subdivision 5 ofsubsection A of § 46.2-694 is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.
(Code 1950, § 46-167; 1958, c. 541, § 46.1-159; 1962, c. 92; 1975, c. 18;1982, c. 681; 1989, c. 727.)