{"formats":[{"name":"JSON","format":"json","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-json\/46.2-1109.json"},{"name":"Plain Text","format":"text","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-text\/46.2-1109.txt"},{"name":"XML","format":"xml","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-xml\/46.2-1109.xml"},{"name":"HTML","format":"html","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-html\/46.2-1109.html"}],"law_id":81276,"edition_id":1,"section_id":81276,"structure_id":15931,"section_number":"46.2-1109","catch_line":"Widths of commercial vehicles","history":"1986, c. 72, \u00a7 46.1-328.1; 1989, cc. 645, 727; 1994, c. 456; 1997, c. 773; 2013, cc. 585, 646.","full_text":"No commercial vehicle shall exceed 102 inches in width when operating on any interstate highway or on any highway designated by the Commonwealth Transportation Board. The width limitation in this section shall not include rear view mirrors, turn signal lights, handholds for cab entry and egress, splash suppressant devices, and load-induced tire bulge. Safety devices, with the exception of rear view mirrors, shall not extend more than three inches on each side of a vehicle. The Commissioner of Highways shall designate reasonable access to terminals, facilities for food, fuel, repairs, and rest. Household goods carriers and any tractor truck semitrailer combination in which the semitrailer has a length of no more than twenty-eight and one-half feet shall not be denied reasonable access to points of loading and unloading, except as designated, based on safety considerations, by the Commissioner of Highways. No reasonable access designation shall be made, however, until notice of any proposed designation has been provided by the Commissioner of Highways to the governing body of every locality wherein any highway affected by the proposed designation is located.\n\t\tFor the purposes of this section, a commercial vehicle is defined as a loaded or empty motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer designed or regularly used for carrying freight, merchandise, or more than ten passengers, including buses, but not including vehicles used for vanpools.","order_by":null,"text":{"0":{"id":291305,"text":"No commercial vehicle shall exceed 102 inches in width when operating on any interstate highway or on any highway designated by the Commonwealth Transportation Board. The width limitation in this section shall not include rear view mirrors, turn signal lights, handholds for cab entry and egress, splash suppressant devices, and load-induced tire bulge. Safety devices, with the exception of rear view mirrors, shall not extend more than three inches on each side of a vehicle. The Commissioner of Highways shall designate reasonable access to terminals, facilities for food, fuel, repairs, and rest. Household goods carriers and any tractor truck semitrailer combination in which the semitrailer has a length of no more than twenty-eight and one-half feet shall not be denied reasonable access to points of loading and unloading, except as designated, based on safety considerations, by the Commissioner of Highways. No reasonable access designation shall be made, however, until notice of any proposed designation has been provided by the Commissioner of Highways to the governing body of every locality wherein any highway affected by the proposed designation is located.\n\t\tFor the purposes of this section, a commercial vehicle is defined as a loaded or empty motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer designed or regularly used for carrying freight, merchandise, or more than ten passengers, including buses, but not including vehicles used for vanpools.","type":"section","prefixes":[""],"prefix":"","entire_prefix":"","prefix_anchor":"","level":1}},"ancestry":[{"id":15931,"edition_id":1,"name":"Maximum Vehicle Widths and Heights","identifier":"15","label":"article","depth":4,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12828,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 04:02:15","date_modified":"2026-06-26 04:02:15","permalink":{"id":228821,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":15931,"identifier":"15","token":"46.2\/III\/10\/15","url":"\/46.2\/III\/10\/15\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12828,"edition_id":1,"name":"Motor Vehicle and Equipment Safety","identifier":"10","label":"chapter","depth":3,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12827,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:55","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:55","permalink":{"id":228599,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12828,"identifier":"10","token":"46.2\/III\/10","url":"\/46.2\/III\/10\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12827,"edition_id":1,"name":"Operation","identifier":"III","label":"subtitle","depth":2,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12770,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:55","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:55","permalink":{"id":228597,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12827,"identifier":"III","token":"46.2\/III","url":"\/46.2\/III\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12770,"edition_id":1,"name":"Motor Vehicles","identifier":"46.2","label":"title","depth":1,"order_by":1,"parent_id":null,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:52","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:52","permalink":{"id":225289,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12770,"identifier":"46.2","token":"46.2","url":"\/46.2\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}}],"structure_contents":[{"id":65386,"structure_id":15931,"section_number":"46.2-1105","catch_line":"Width of vehicles generally; exceptions","url":"\/46.2-1105\/","token":"46.2\/III\/10\/15\/46.2-1105","metadata":false},{"id":61939,"structure_id":15931,"section_number":"46.2-1106","catch_line":"Repealed","url":"\/46.2-1106\/","token":"46.2\/III\/10\/15\/46.2-1106","metadata":false},{"id":73980,"structure_id":15931,"section_number":"46.2-1108","catch_line":"Bus widths to comply with federal law","url":"\/46.2-1108\/","token":"46.2\/III\/10\/15\/46.2-1108","metadata":false},{"id":81276,"structure_id":15931,"section_number":"46.2-1109","catch_line":"Widths of commercial vehicles","url":"\/46.2-1109\/","token":"46.2\/III\/10\/15\/46.2-1109","metadata":false},{"id":77659,"structure_id":15931,"section_number":"46.2-1110","catch_line":"Height of vehicles; damage to overhead obstruction; penalty","url":"\/46.2-1110\/","token":"46.2\/III\/10\/15\/46.2-1110","metadata":false},{"id":73568,"structure_id":15931,"section_number":"46.2-1111","catch_line":"Extension of loads beyond line of fender or body","url":"\/46.2-1111\/","token":"46.2\/III\/10\/15\/46.2-1111","metadata":false}],"previous_section":{"id":73980,"structure_id":15931,"section_number":"46.2-1108","catch_line":"Bus widths to comply with federal law","url":"\/46.2-1108\/","token":"46.2\/III\/10\/15\/46.2-1108","metadata":false},"next_section":{"id":77659,"structure_id":15931,"section_number":"46.2-1110","catch_line":"Height of vehicles; damage to overhead obstruction; penalty","url":"\/46.2-1110\/","token":"46.2\/III\/10\/15\/46.2-1110","metadata":false},"metadata":false,"official_url":"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/46.2-1109\/","history_text":"

This law was first created in 1986. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 72 of that year\u2019s edition of \u201cActs of Assembly,\u201d the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year. Unfortunately, the 1986 \u201cActs\u201d aren\u2019t available online. It has been modified 4 times. Those modifications are cataloged by \u201cThe Acts of Assembly,\u201d a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly\u2019s website will be linked accordingly. Those modifications are as follows: in 1989, chapters 645 and 727; in 1994, chapter 456<\/a>; in 1997, chapter 773<\/a>; in 2013, chapters 585<\/a> and 646<\/a>.<\/p>","references":[{"id":73568,"section_number":"46.2-1111","catch_line":"Extension of loads beyond line of fender or body","order_by":null,"url":"\/46.2-1111\/"}],"refers_to":false,"permalink":{"id":228835,"object_type":"law","relational_id":81276,"identifier":"46.2-1109","token":"46.2\/III\/10\/15\/46.2-1109","url":"\/46.2-1109\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1},"url":"\/46.2-1109\/","token":"46.2\/III\/10\/15\/46.2-1109","dublin_core":{"Title":"Widths of commercial vehicles","Type":"Text","Format":"text\/html","Identifier":"\u00a7 46.2-1109","Relation":"Code of Virginia"},"html":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

No commercial vehicle shall exceed 102 inches in width when operating on any interstate highway<\/span> or on any highway<\/span> designated by the Commonwealth Transportation Board. The width limitation in this section shall not include rear view mirrors, turn signal lights<\/span>, handholds for cab entry and egress, splash suppressant devices, and load-induced tire bulge. Safety devices, with the exception of rear view mirrors, shall not extend more than three inches on each side of a vehicle. The Commissioner<\/span> of Highways<\/span><\/span> shall designate reasonable access to terminals, facilities for food, fuel, repairs, and rest. Household goods carriers and any tractor truck<\/span> semitrailer<\/span> combination in which the semitrailer<\/span> has a length of no more than twenty-eight and one-half feet shall not be denied reasonable access to points of loading and unloading, except as designated, based on safety considerations, by the Commissioner<\/span> of Highways<\/span><\/span>. No reasonable access designation shall be made, however, until notice of any proposed designation has been provided by the Commissioner<\/span> of Highways<\/span><\/span> to the governing body<\/span> of every locality wherein any highway<\/span> affected by the proposed designation is located.\n\t\tFor the purposes of this section, a commercial vehicle is defined as a loaded or empty motor vehicle<\/span>, trailer<\/span>, or semitrailer<\/span> designed or regularly used for carrying freight, merchandise, or more than ten passengers, including buses, but not including vehicles<\/span> used for vanpools.<\/p><\/section>","plain_text":" CODE OF VIRGINIA\n\nWIDTHS OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLES (\u00a7 46.2-1109)\n\nNo commercial vehicle shall exceed 102 inches in width when operating on any\ninterstate highway or on any highway designated by the Commonwealth\nTransportation Board. The width limitation in this section shall not include\nrear view mirrors, turn signal lights, handholds for cab entry and egress,\nsplash suppressant devices, and load-induced tire bulge. Safety devices, with\nthe exception of rear view mirrors, shall not extend more than three inches on\neach side of a vehicle. The Commissioner of Highways shall designate reasonable\naccess to terminals, facilities for food, fuel, repairs, and rest. Household\ngoods carriers and any tractor truck semitrailer combination in which the\nsemitrailer has a length of no more than twenty-eight and one-half feet shall\nnot be denied reasonable access to points of loading and unloading, except as\ndesignated, based on safety considerations, by the Commissioner of Highways. No\nreasonable access designation shall be made, however, until notice of any\nproposed designation has been provided by the Commissioner of Highways to the\ngoverning body of every locality wherein any highway affected by the proposed\ndesignation is located.\n\t\tFor the purposes of this section, a commercial vehicle is defined as a loaded\nor empty motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer designed or regularly used for\ncarrying freight, merchandise, or more than ten passengers, including buses, but\nnot including vehicles used for vanpools.\n\nHISTORY: 1986, c. 72, \u00a7 46.1-328.1; 1989, cc. 645, 727; 1994, c. 456; 1997, c.\n773; 2013, cc. 585, 646.","edition":{"id":1,"name":"2025","slug":"2025","date_created":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","date_modified":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","current":1,"order_by":1,"last_import":null}}