Bill Text: VA HB1883 | 2013 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Handheld personal communications devices; texting while driving, reckless driving.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-02-01 - Incorporated by Courts of Justice [HB1883 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2013-HB1883-Prefiled.html
13101527D Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia: 1. That §46.2-1078.1 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows: §46.2-1078.1. Use of handheld personal communications devices in certain motor vehicles; exceptions; penalty. A. It 1. Manually enter multiple letters or text in the device as a means of communicating with another person; or 2. 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 B. The provisions of this section shall not apply to: 1. The operator of any emergency vehicle; 2. An operator who is lawfully parked or stopped; 3. 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 4. Any person using a handheld personal communications device to report an emergency. C. No citation for a violation of D. A violation of E. Any person who, while in violation of subsection A, causes an accident in which a person is killed or injured or in which an attended vehicle or other attended property is damaged is guilty of reckless driving. A violation of this subsection shall not preclude prosecution under any other applicable provision of the criminal law. F. For the purposes of this section, "emergency vehicle" means: 1. Any law-enforcement vehicle operated by or under the direction of a federal, state, or local law-enforcement officer while engaged in the performance of official duties; 2. Any regional detention center vehicle operated by or under the direction of a correctional officer responding to an emergency call or operating in an emergency situation; 3. Any vehicle used to fight fire, including publicly owned state forest warden vehicles, when traveling in response to a fire alarm or emergency call; 4. Any ambulance, rescue, or life-saving vehicle designed or used for the principal purpose of supplying resuscitation or emergency relief where human life is endangered; 5. Any Department of Emergency Management vehicle or Office of Emergency Medical Services vehicle, when responding to an emergency call or operating in an emergency situation; 6. Any Department of Corrections vehicle designated by the Director of the Department of Corrections, when (i) responding to an emergency call at a correctional facility, (ii) participating in a drug-related investigation, (iii) pursuing escapees from a correctional facility, or (iv) responding to a request for assistance from a law-enforcement officer; and 7. Any vehicle authorized to be equipped with alternating, blinking, or flashing red or red and white secondary warning lights pursuant to §46.2-1029.2. |