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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>65632</law_id><section_number>46.2-1049</section_number><catch_line>Exhaust system in good working order</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="46.2">Motor Vehicles</unit><unit label="subtitle" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="III">Operation</unit><unit label="chapter" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="10">Motor Vehicle and Equipment Safety</unit><unit label="article" level="4" order_by="1" identifier="5">Exhaust System</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>No person shall drive and no <span class="dictionary">owner</span> of a vehicle shall permit or allow the operation of any such vehicle on a <span class="dictionary">highway</span> unless it is equipped with an <span class="dictionary">exhaust system</span> in good working <span class="dictionary">order</span> and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual levels of noise, provided, however, that for <span class="dictionary">motor vehicles</span>, such <span class="dictionary">exhaust system</span> shall be of a type installed as standard factory equipment, or comparable to that designed for use on the particular vehicle as standard factory equipment or other equipment that has been submitted to and approved by the <span class="dictionary">Superintendent</span> or meets or exceeds the standards and specifications of the Society of Automotive Engineers, the American National Standards Institute, or the federal <span class="dictionary">Department</span> of Transportation.
		As used in this section, &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">exhaust system</span>&#x201D; means all the parts of a vehicle through which the exhaust passes after leaving the engine block, including mufflers and other sound dissipative devices.
		Chambered pipes are not an effective muffling device to prevent excessive or unusual noise, and any vehicle equipped with chambered pipes shall be deemed in violation of this section.
		The provisions of this section shall not apply to (i) any <span class="dictionary">antique motor vehicle</span> licensed pursuant to &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="License plates for antique motor vehicles and antique trailers; fee" href="/46.2-730/">46.2-730</a>, provided that the engine is comparable to that designed as standard factory equipment for use on that particular vehicle, and the <span class="dictionary">exhaust system</span> is in good working <span class="dictionary">order</span>, or (ii) <span class="dictionary">converted electric vehicles</span>.</p></section></text><history>Code 1950, &#xA7; 46-305; 1952, c. 455; 1956, c. 651; 1958, c. 541, &#xA7; 46.1-301; 1960, c. 120; 1970, c. 266; 1972, c. 66; 1989, c. 727; 2006, cc. 529, 538; 2012, c. 177; 2015, cc. 77, 165; 2018, c. 655; 2020, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 45, 51; 2022, c. 490.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
