Bill Text: VA HB445 | 2020 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Light units; candlepower to lumens.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2020-03-23 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0393) [HB445 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2020-HB445-Comm_Sub.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§46.2-1004, 46.2-1012, 46.2-1020, and 46.2-2099.50 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§46.2-1004. Trademark or name and instructions required.
Each device or other equipment mentioned in §46.2-1002 and offered for sale in the Commonwealth shall bear a trademark or name or be identified in keeping with the Superintendent's regulations and shall be accompanied by printed instructions as to the proper mounting, use, and candlepower or lumens of any bulbs to be used therewith and any particular methods of mounting or adjustments necessary to meet the requirements of this title and any regulation of the Superintendent.
§46.2-1012. Headlights, auxiliary headlights, tail lights, brake lights, auxiliary lights, and illumination of license plates on motorcycles or autocycles.
Every motorcycle or autocycle shall be equipped with at least one headlight which shall be of a type that has been approved by the Superintendent and shall be capable of projecting sufficient light to the front of such motorcycle or autocycle to render discernible a person or object at a distance of 200 feet. However, the lights shall not project a glaring or dazzling light to persons approaching such motorcycles or autocycles. In addition, each motorcycle or autocycle may be equipped with not more than two auxiliary headlights of a type approved by the Superintendent except as otherwise provided in this section.
Motorcycles or autocycles may be equipped with means of modulating the high beam of their headlights between high and low beam at a rate of 200 to 280 flashes per minute. Such headlights shall not be so modulated during periods when headlights would ordinarily be required to be lighted under §46.2-1030.
Notwithstanding §46.2-1002, motorcycles or autocycles may be equipped with standard bulb running lights or light-emitting diode (LED) pods or strips as auxiliary lighting. Such lighting shall be (i) either red or amber in color, (ii) directed toward the ground in such a manner that no part of the beam will strike the level of the surface on which the motorcycle or autocycle stands at a distance of more than 10 feet from the vehicle, and (iii) designed for vehicular use. Such lighting shall not (a) project a beam of light of an intensity greater than 25 candlepower or 314.25 lumens or its equivalent from a single lamp or bulb; (b) be blinking, flashing, oscillating, or rotating; or (c) be attached to the wheels of the motorcycle or autocycle.
Every motorcycle or autocycle registered in the Commonwealth and operated on the highways of the Commonwealth shall be equipped with at least one brake light of a type approved by the Superintendent. Motorcycles or autocycles may be equipped with one or more auxiliary brake lights of a type approved by the Superintendent. The Superintendent may by regulation prescribe or limit the size, number, location, and configuration of such auxiliary brake lights.
Every motorcycle or autocycle shall carry at the rear at least one or more red lights plainly visible in clear weather from a distance of 500 feet to the rear of such vehicle. Such tail lights shall be constructed and so mounted in their relation to the rear license plate as to illuminate the license plate with a white light so that the same may be read from a distance of 50 feet to the rear of such vehicle. Alternatively, a separate white light shall be so mounted as to illuminate the rear license plate from a distance of 50 feet to the rear of such vehicle. Any such tail lights or special white light shall be of a type approved by the Superintendent.
Motorcycles or autocycles may be equipped with a means of varying the brightness of the vehicle's brake light upon application of the vehicle's brakes.
§46.2-1020. Other permissible lights.
Any motor vehicle may be equipped with fog lights, not more than two of which can be illuminated at any time, one or two auxiliary driving lights if so equipped by the manufacturer, two daytime running lights, two side lights of not more than six candlepower or 75.42 lumens, an interior light or lights of not more than 15 candlepower or 188.55 lumens each, and signal lights.
The provision of this section limiting interior lights to no more than 15 candlepower or 188.55 lumens shall not apply to (i) alternating, blinking, or flashing colored emergency lights mounted inside law-enforcement motor vehicles which may otherwise legally be equipped with such colored emergency lights, or (ii) flashing shielded red or red and white lights, authorized under §46.2-1024, mounted inside vehicles owned or used by (a) members of volunteer fire companies or volunteer emergency medical services agencies, (b) professional firefighters, or (c) police chaplains. A vehicle equipped with lighting devices as authorized in this section shall be operated by a police chaplain only if he has successfully completed a course of training in the safe operation of a motor vehicle under emergency conditions and a certificate attesting to such successful completion, signed by the course instructor, is carried at all times in the vehicle when operated by the police chaplain to whom the certificate applies.
Unless such lighting device (i) is both covered and unlit or (ii) has a clear lens, any reflector in such lighting device is clear, and such lighting device is unlit, no motor vehicle that is equipped with any lighting device other than lights required or permitted in this article, required or approved by the Superintendent, or required by the federal Department of Transportation shall be operated on any highway in the Commonwealth. Nothing in this section shall permit any vehicle, not otherwise authorized, to be equipped with colored emergency lights, whether blinking or steady-burning.
§46.2-2099.50. Requirements for TNC partner vehicles; trade dress issued by transportation network company.
A. A TNC partner vehicle shall:
1. Be a personal vehicle;
2. Have a seating capacity of no more than eight persons, including the driver;
3. Be validly titled and registered in the Commonwealth or in another state;
4. Not have been issued a certificate of title, either in Virginia or in any other state, branding the vehicle as salvage, nonrepairable, rebuilt, or any equivalent classification;
5. Have a valid Virginia safety inspection or an annual inspection conducted in another state for which the Department of State Police has determined that such motor vehicle safety inspection standards adequately ensure public safety and carry proof of that inspection on or in the vehicle; and
6. Be covered under a TNC insurance policy meeting the requirements of §46.2-2099.51 or 46.2-2099.52, as applicable.
No TNC partner shall operate a TNC partner vehicle unless that vehicle meets the requirements of this subsection.
B. Before authorizing a vehicle to be used as a TNC partner vehicle, a transportation network company shall confirm that the vehicle meets the requirements of subsection A and shall provide each TNC partner with proof of any TNC insurance policy maintained by the transportation network company.
For each TNC partner vehicle it authorizes, a transportation network company shall issue trade dress to the TNC partner associated with that vehicle. The trade dress shall be sufficient to identify the transportation network company or digital platform with which the vehicle is affiliated and shall be displayed in a manner that complies with Virginia law. The trade dress shall be of such size, shape, and color as to be readily identifiable during daylight hours from a distance of 50 feet while the vehicle is not in motion and shall be reflective, illuminated, or otherwise patently visible in darkness. The trade dress may take the form of a removable device that meets the identification and visibility requirements of this subsection.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, a TNC partner vehicle may be equipped with no more than two removable, illuminated, interior, TNC-issued, trade dress devices that assist passengers in identifying and communicating with TNC partners. Such devices may use a single steady-burning color while the TNC partner is logged in to a transportation network company's associated digital platform and may change to a different steady-burning color once the TNC partner accepts a request to transport a passenger and is within 0.4 miles of such passenger. The illuminated display on each such device shall not (i) exceed five candlepower or 62.85 lumens; (ii) exceed 20 square inches; (iii) utilize red, blue, or amber lights; (iv) project a glaring or dazzling light; or (v) attach to the windshield.
The transportation network company shall submit to the Department proof that the transportation network company has established the trade dress required under this subsection by filing with the Department an illustration or photograph of the trade dress. Any TNC that issues an illuminated removable interior trade dress device for use in the Commonwealth shall file with the Department the specifications of such device, including the default color.
A TNC partner shall keep the trade dress issued under this subsection visible at all times while the vehicle is being operated as a TNC partner vehicle.
No person shall operate a vehicle bearing trade dress issued under this subsection without the authorization of the transportation network company issuing the trade dress.
