The Virginia General Assembly started its session this month and as I was reviewing some of the proposed law changes I stumbled upon a couple that interested me. Of note, there are several bills that might affect your case or how personal injury and wrongful death cases proceed in the future. I’ve left out procedural law changes as you should rely on a competent personal injury lawyer to know those changes.
Here is a quick list of notable substantive bills I find interesting:
HB 2193 Throwing or depositing certain substances on the highway; grass. Throwing or depositing certain substances on the highway; grass. Adds grass to the list of substances a person shall not throw or deposit or cause to be deposited upon any highway so as to create a hazard to the traveling public.
This may seem ridiculous to penalize depositing grass on a roadway, but grass clippings on a roadway can be fatal to a motorcyclist. If there is a legislative way to keep our motorcyclist safe, I think we should do it. This simple change to one statute is based 100{48c504d5a5f0724c566492c27f2412e3d97a5dbd1d2791ef7ccf262d1d58a622} of safety and should be passed.
HB 1872 Motorcycles and autocycles; protective helmets, organ donor exemption. Exempts any operator of and passenger on a motorcycle or autocycle who is 21 years of age or older and a registered organ donor from the requirement to wear a protective helmet when on a motorcycle or autocycle. The bill reduces operating or riding on a motorcycle or autocycle without a protective helmet from a primary offense to a secondary offense, which can be charged only when the offender is stopped for another, separate offense.
This bill will allow a motorcyclist to ride without a helmet as long as the driver is a registered organ donor. We all know that driving a motorcycle can be dangerous. People don’t take notice of motorcycles as they should. But I view motorcycle helmets like I do seatbelts, they are helpful for the most part when you are in a bad wreck. “All-rider helmet laws increase motorcycle helmet use, decrease deaths and injuries and save taxpayer dollars.” Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
HB 1926 Traffic cameras; data retention. Department of Transportation traffic cameras; data retention. Requires the Department of Transportation to collect and retain audio and video data collected by traffic cameras for at least 14 days.
This bill is interesting and, if passed, would increase the need for folks to hire qualified personal injury attorneys quickly after a wreck. If an intersection wreck happens, you will want the video data collected by those cameras to show to a jury at your trial. If you don’t request them within 14 days, they will be forever gone.
SB 1543 Wrongful death; beneficiaries. Adds the parents of the deceased who received support or services from the deceased to the first class of beneficiaries to whom a distribution of an award of damages in a wrongful death action shall be made.
Right now, the beneficiaries for a wrongful death case are the surviving spouse and children, and if none, then the parents, brothers, and sisters, etc. of the victim. This bill will move parents from class 2 beneficiaries to class 1 beneficiaries.
SB 1550 Bicyclists and other vulnerable road users. Provides that a person who operates a motor vehicle in a careless or distracted manner and is the proximate cause of serious physical injury to a vulnerable road user, defined in the bill as a pedestrian or person riding a bicycle, electric wheelchair, electric bicycle, wheelchair, skateboard, skates, foot-scooter, animal, or animal-drawn vehicle, is guilty of a traffic infraction. The bill prohibits the driver of a motor vehicle from using or crossing into a bicycle lane to pass or attempt to pass another vehicle.
This bill adds a traffic infraction to the books. There are two ways to look at this proposed new law. First, it takes what is already a class 1 misdemeanor (reckless driving) and turns it into a traffic infraction, which is a class 4 misdemeanor. The second way to look at it is that it provides a different charge for those cases where reckless driving would typically be reduced to improper driving and calls it something more specific. Given the next bill, I’m leaning towards the second perspective at this point.
SB 1154 Traffic infractions not encompassed by reckless or improper driving. Requires the driver of a motor vehicle to (i) give full time and attention to the safe operation of the motor vehicle and (ii) exercise due care and decrease speed as necessary to avoid a collision with any person, vehicle, or other conveyance on or entering the highway. These violations, which are not encompassed by the current reckless driving statute, shall constitute traffic infractions.
For quite some time, the Trooper or Officer investigating a wreck has not been able to write tickets for improper driving. So frequently, the Trooper or Officer will write a ticket for reckless driving but then suggest to the judge that it is really improper driving. That reduces the misdemeanor class from class 1 (max 12 months in jail and $2,500 fine) to a class 3 (punishable by fines up to $500.00). I don’t do criminal defense work but I’ve always thought that “improper driving” could be called constitutionally vague and probably ought to be considered unconstitutional. No one has ever challenged it, however, because the legal fees would cost more than the fine. This bill clarifies the offense and makes these infractions as a class 4 misdemeanor.
HB 2264 Safety belt system use in motor vehicles. Requires all occupants of motor vehicles to utilize a safety belt system. Current law requires the use of safety belts only by (i) occupants under the age of 18, (ii) drivers, and (iii) passengers 18 years of age or older occupying the front seat. The bill changes a violation of safety belt system requirements by a person occupying a front seat from a secondary offense to a primary offense.
This bill looks to be pretty self-explanatory. Everyone has to wear a safety belt and it would be a primary offense. That means an officer can pull over a driver who is driving an unbuckled rear-seat passenger.
SB 1341 Use of handheld personal communications devices while driving. Expands the prohibition on using a handheld personal communications device while operating a motor vehicle to all uses unless the device is specifically designed to allow hands-free and voice operation and the device is being used in that manner. Current law prohibits only the reading of any email or text message and manually entering letters or text in the device as a means of communicating. The bill expands the exemptions to include handheld personal communications devices that are used (i) for navigation or generating audio transmissions when the device is physically mounted to the vehicle; (ii) as an amateur radio or a citizens band radio; (iii) to activate, deactivate, or initiate a factory-installed feature or function on the vehicle; or (iv) for official Department of Transportation or traffic incident management services.
So Siri is now your best friend. And you can only use Siri to call people. And you can’t use your hands when you call those people. Restricting the use of cell phones is a good thing. Our society has gone from texting while driving to Facebooking, tweeting, Instagramming, or Snapchatting while driving. All of those are distracting and could cause serious injury.
I hope this short snippet helps you understand what is going on in Richmond right now. We’ll have to check in on these bills later to see if they die or find life in the law books for the Commonwealth of Virginia.
