                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

EXCEPTIONS TO MOTOR VEHICLE INSPECTION REQUIREMENT (§ 46.2-1158.01)

A. The following shall be exempt from inspection as required by § 46.2-1157:

   1. Four-wheel vehicles weighing less than 500 pounds and having less than 6
   horsepower;

   2. Boat, utility, or travel trailers that are not equipped with brakes;

   3. Antique motor vehicles or antique trailers as defined in &#xA7; 46.2-100
   and licensed pursuant to &#xA7; 46.2-730;

   4. Any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer that is outside the Commonwealth
   at the time its inspection expires when operated by the most direct route to
   the owner&#8217;s or operator&#8217;s place of residence or the owner&#8217;s
   legal place of business in the Commonwealth;

   5. A truck, tractor truck, trailer, or semitrailer for which the period fixed
   for inspection has expired while the vehicle was outside the Commonwealth (i)
   from a point outside the Commonwealth to the place where such vehicle is kept
   or garaged within the Commonwealth or (ii) to a destination within the
   Commonwealth where such vehicle will be (a) unloaded within 24 hours of
   entering the Commonwealth, (b) inspected within such 24-hour period, and (c)
   operated, after being unloaded, only to an inspection station or to the place
   where it is kept or garaged within the Commonwealth;

   6. New motor vehicles, new trailers, or new semitrailers operated upon the
   highways of the Commonwealth for the purpose of delivery from the place of
   manufacture to the dealer&#8217;s or distributor&#8217;s designated place of
   business or between places of business if such manufacturer, dealer, or
   distributor has more than one place of business; dealers or distributors may
   take delivery and operate upon the highways of the Commonwealth new motor
   vehicles, new trailers, or new semitrailers from another dealer or distributor
   provided a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer shall not be considered new
   if driven upon the highways for any purpose other than the delivery of the
   vehicle;

   7. New motor vehicles, new trailers, or new semitrailers bearing a
   manufacturer&#8217;s license operated for test purposes by the manufacturer;

   8. Motor vehicles, trailers, or semitrailers operated for test purposes by a
   certified inspector during the performance of an official inspection;

   9. New motor vehicles, new trailers, or new semitrailers operated upon the
   highways of the Commonwealth over the most direct route to a location for
   installation of a permanent body;

   10. Motor vehicles, trailers, or semitrailers purchased outside the
   Commonwealth driven to the purchaser&#8217;s place of residence or the
   dealer&#8217;s or distributor&#8217;s designated place of business;

   11. Prior to purchase from auto auctions, motor vehicles, trailers, or
   semitrailers operated upon the highways not to exceed a 10-mile radius of such
   auction by prospective purchasers only for the purpose of road testing and
   motor vehicles, trailers, or semitrailers purchased from auto auctions
   operated upon the highways from such auction to (i) an official safety
   inspection station provided that (a) the inspection station is located between
   the auto auction and the purchaser&#8217;s residence or place of business or
   within a 10-mile radius of such residence or business and (b) the vehicle is
   taken to the inspection station on the same day the purchaser removes the
   vehicle from the auto auction or (ii) the purchaser&#8217;s place of residence
   or business;

   12. Motor vehicles, trailers, or semitrailers, after the expiration of a
   period fixed for the inspection thereof, (i) operated over the most direct
   route between the place where such vehicle is kept or garaged and an official
   inspection station or (ii) parked on a highway and that have been submitted
   for a motor vehicle safety inspection to an official inspection station, for
   the purpose of having the same inspected pursuant to a prior appointment with
   such station;

   13. Any vehicle for transporting well-drilling machinery and mobile equipment
   as defined in &#xA7; 46.2-700;

   14. Motor vehicles being towed in a legal manner as exempted under &#xA7;
   46.2-1150;

   15. Logtrailers as exempted under &#xA7; 46.2-1159;

   16. Motor vehicles designed or altered and used exclusively for racing or
   other exhibition purposes as exempted under &#xA7; 46.2-1160;

   17. Any tow dolly or converter gear as defined in &#xA7; 46.2-1119;

   18. A new motor vehicle, as defined in &#xA7; 46.2-1500, that has been
   inspected in accordance with an inspection requirement of the manufacturer or
   distributor of the new motor vehicle by an employee who customarily performs
   such inspection on behalf of a motor vehicle dealer licensed pursuant to
   &#xA7; 46.2-1508. Such inspection shall be deemed to be the first inspection
   for the purpose of &#xA7; 46.2-1158, and an inspection approval sticker
   furnished by the Department of State Police at the uniform price paid by all
   official inspection stations to the Department of State Police for an
   inspection approval sticker may be affixed to the vehicle as required by
   &#xA7; 46.2-1163;

   19. Mopeds;

   20. Low-speed vehicles;

   21. Vehicles exempt from registration pursuant to Article 6 (&#xA7; 46.2-662
   et seq.) of Chapter 6; and

   22. Military surplus motor vehicles as defined in &#xA7; 46.2-100 and licensed
   pursuant to &#xA7; 46.2-730.1.

B. The following shall be exempt from inspection as required by § 46.2-1157,
provided that (i) the commercial motor vehicle operates in interstate commerce;
(ii) the commercial motor vehicle has been inspected in accordance with the
federal requirements for annual inspection by complying with the periodic
inspection requirements in 49 C.F.R. § 396.17; (iii) the inspection has been
determined by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to be comparable
to or as effective as the requirements of 49 C.F.R. § 396.3(a); and (iv)
documentation of such determination as provided for in 49 C.F.R. § 396.3(b) is
available for review by law-enforcement officials to verify that the inspection
is current:

   1. Any commercial motor vehicle operating in interstate commerce that is
   subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations;

   2. Any trailer or semitrailer being operated in interstate commerce that is
   subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.

HISTORY: 2011, c. 283; 2016, cc. 128, 702; 2018, c. 555; 2019, c. 69; 2023, cc.
394, 395.