Va. Code » Title 46.2. Motor Vehicles » Subtitle III. Operation » Chapter 10. Motor Vehicle and Equipment Safety » Article 1. Vehicle and Equipment Safety, Generally
Virginia Code

Va. Code Ann. § 46.2-1000 (2026)

Department to suspend registration of vehicles lacking certain equipment; officer to take possession of registration card, license plates and decals when observing defect in motor vehicle; when to be returned

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The Department shall suspend the registration of any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer which the Department or the Department of State Police determines is not equipped with proper (i) brakes, (ii) lights, (iii) horn or warning device, (iv) turn signals, (v) safety glass when required by law, (vi) mirror, (vii) muffler, (viii) windshield wiper, (ix) steering gear adequate to ensure the safe movement of the vehicle as required by this title or when such vehicle is equipped with a smoke screen device or cutout or when such motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer is otherwise unsafe to be operated.

Any law-enforcement officer shall, when he observes any defect in a motor vehicle as described above, take possession of the registration card, license plates, and decals of any such vehicle and retain the same in his possession for a period of 15 days unless the owner of the vehicle corrects the defects or obtains a new safety inspection sticker from an authorized safety inspection station. When the defect or defects are corrected as indicated above the registration card, license plates, and decals shall be returned to the owner.

For any summons issued for a violation of this section, the court may, in its discretion, dismiss the summons, where proof of compliance with this section is provided to the court on or before the court date.

Code 1950, § 46-56; 1958, c. 541, § 46.1-58; 1960, c. 119; 1964, c. 414; 1972, c. 609; 1989, c. 727; 2017, c. 670.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases, 1998–2004 · leading case: Reel v. Commonwealth, 522 S.E.2d 881 (Va. Ct. App. 2000).
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Reel v. Commonwealth, 522 S.E.2d 881 (Va. Ct. App. 2000). · cites it 2× “Code § 46.2-1000. Further, the Virginia Administrative Code provides that, upon rejection of a vehicle during an official state inspection, [t]he operator of the rejected vehicle shall be informed of the following: 1.”
Commonwealth v. Rice, 504 S.E.2d 877 (Va. Ct. App. 1998). “At that time, the officer had several options, including issuing a warning and allowing Rice to continue on his way, issuing a summons for operating a motor vehicle with defective equipment, or confiscating the registration card, license plates and any decals of the vehicle…”
James Henry Fisher v. Commonwealth, 592 S.E.2d 377 (Va. Ct. App. 2004). · cites it 2× “The Arlington County Police Department Procedures also cite the requirements of Code § 46.2-1000, which provide for suspension of the registration of any motor vehicle that has certain enumerated defects, or is "otherwise unsafe to be operated.”
James Henry Fisher v. Commonwealth, No. 0553034 (Va. Ct. App. Feb. 10, 2004). · cites it 2× “Because appellant did not preserve the question of whether the search was a pretext concealing an investigatory motive, we need only determine whether the impoundment was reasonable and in accord with standard police procedures.”
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