                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

EXHAUST SYSTEM IN GOOD WORKING ORDER (§ 46.2-1049)

No person shall drive and no owner of a vehicle shall permit or allow the
operation of any such vehicle on a highway unless it is equipped with an exhaust
system in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or
unusual levels of noise, provided, however, that for motor vehicles, such
exhaust system 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 Superintendent or meets or exceeds the standards and specifications of the
Society of Automotive Engineers, the American National Standards Institute, or
the federal Department of Transportation.
		As used in this section, &#8220;exhaust system&#8221; 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 antique motor
vehicle licensed pursuant to § 46.2-730, provided that the engine is comparable
to that designed as standard factory equipment for use on that particular
vehicle, and the exhaust system is in good working order, or (ii) converted
electric vehicles.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 46-305; 1952, c. 455; 1956, c. 651; 1958, c. 541, §
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.