Traffic Safety Laws
Texting While Driving
If you or people you know have a habit of texting while driving, be sure to read on. A no texting while driving bill has been passed and will go into effect July 1st. The details are as follows:
Beginning July 1st 2009, it will be against the law for any person to operate a moving motor vehicle on the highways in the Commonwealth of Virginia while using any handheld personal communications device to manually enter multiple letters or text in the device as a means of communicating with another person. It will also be unlawful to read any email or text message transmitted to the device or stored within the device, provided that this prohibition shall not apply to any name or number stored in the device nor to any caller identification information.
Exceptions will be made for emergency vehicles; an operator who is lawfully parked or stopped; the use of factory-installed or aftermarket global positioning systems (GPS) or wireless communications devices used to transmit or receive data as part of a digital dispatch system; or any person using a handheld personal communications device to report an emergency.
No citation for a violation of this section shall be issued unless the officer issuing such citation has cause to stop or arrest the driver of such motor vehicle for the violation of some other provision of this Code or local ordinance relating to the operation, ownership, or maintenance of a motor vehicle or any criminal statute.
A violation of any provision of this section shall constitute a traffic infraction punishable, for a first offense, by a fine of $20 and, for a second or subsequent offense, by a fine of $50.