HB1826: Motor vehicles; proof of financial responsibility.
HOUSE BILL NO. 1826
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 46.2-104 and 46.2-902.1 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 46.2-104. Possession of registration cards, licenses and proof of financial responsibility; failure to carry registration card, license, and proof of financial responsibility.
The operator of any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer
being operated on the highways in the Commonwealth,
shall have in his possession: (i) the
registration card issued by the Department or the registration card issued by
the state or country in which the motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer is
registered, and; (ii) his driver's license,
learner's permit, or temporary driver's permit; and
(iii) proof of either financial responsibility by one of
the methods provided in §
46.2-436 or payment of the uninsured motorist fee pursuant
to § 46.2-706.
The owner or operator of any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer shall stop on the signal of any law-enforcement officer who is in uniform or shows his badge or other sign of authority and shall, on the officer's request, exhibit his registration card, driver's license, learner's permit, or temporary driver's permit and write his name in the presence of the officer, if so required, for the purpose of establishing his identity.
Every person licensed by the Department as a driver or issued
a learner's or temporary driver's permit who fails to carry his license or
permit, and the registration card for
the vehicle which he operates, and proof of either
financial responsibility
or payment of the uninsured motorist fee shall be guilty of
a traffic infraction and upon conviction punished by a fine of ten dollars $10. However, if any person
summoned to appear before a court for failure to display his license, permit, or registration card, or proof of either
financial responsibility
or payment of the uninsured motorist fee presents, before
the return date of the summons, to the court a license or permit issued to him
prior to the time the summons was issued or a registration card or proof of either financial
responsibility or payment of
the uninsured motorist fee, as the case may be, or appears
pursuant to the summons and produces before the court a license or permit
issued to him prior to the time the summons was issued or a registration card or proof of either financial
responsibility or
payment of the uninsured motorist fee, as the case may be,
he shall, upon payment of all applicable court costs, have complied with the
provisions of this section.
§ 46.2-902.1. Penalty for failure to furnish proof of financial responsibility after an accident.
Any law-enforcement officer
present at the scene of a motor vehicle accident as to which a law-enforcement
officer is required by § 46.2-373 to file an accident report with the
Department may require the operator of any motor vehicle involved in such
accident to furnish proof that the vehicle he was operating at the time of such
accident was either (i) an insured motor vehicle as defined in § 46.2-705 or
(ii) a vehicle for which the fee required by § 46.2-706 for registration of an
uninsured vehicle had been paid as to that vehicle. Failure
to furnish proof of insurance or payment of
the uninsured vehicle registration fee either financial
responsibility by one of the
methods provided in § 46.2-436 or payment of the
uninsured motorist fee pursuant to § 46.2-706 when required
by a law-enforcement officer as
provided in this section at the
scene of a motor vehicle accident where such law-enforcement officer
is required by § 46.2-373 to file an
accident report with the Department within thirty 30
days shall constitute a Class 2 misdemeanor.