                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

INDICATION OF SPECIAL COMMUNICATION NEEDS (§ 46.2-600.1)

A. As used in this section, &#8220;disability that can impair
communication&#8221; means a condition with symptoms that can impair the ability
of a person with such condition to receive, send, process, or comprehend
concepts or verbal, nonverbal, or graphic symbol systems, including autism
spectrum disorders as defined in &#xA7; 38.2-3418.17 and hearing loss.

B. The Department shall include on the application for registration of a motor
vehicle an option for the vehicle owner to, if applicable, voluntarily indicate
that he or a person who will regularly occupy his vehicle has a disability that
can impair communication. On any application on which the applicant indicates
that a person who will regularly occupy his vehicle has such a disability, the
Department may require the applicant to certify that he has the consent of the
regular occupant of the vehicle to release information pursuant to subsection D.

C. Any vehicle owner with a driver&#8217;s license indicator authorized pursuant
to subsection K of &#xA7; 46.2-342; special identification card indicator
authorized pursuant to subsection L of &#xA7; 46.2-345 or subsection H of &#xA7;
46.2-345.2; or identification privilege card indicator authorized pursuant to
subsection I of &#xA7; 46.2-345.3 or whose vehicle is regularly occupied by an
individual with such an indicator shall be eligible for the registration
indicator. A vehicle owner with such an indicator on his credential and a
vehicle owner whose vehicle is regularly occupied by an individual with a
driver&#8217;s license indicator or special identification card indicator may
apply to the Department for a registration indicator in a manner prescribed by
the Commissioner.

D. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A of &#xA7; 46.2-208, the
Department shall provide information regarding vehicle registrants who have
indicated, pursuant to subsection B or C, that they or individuals who will
regularly occupy their vehicles have a disability that can impair communication
with employees and agents of criminal justice agencies as defined in &#xA7;
9.1-101. The Department shall confirm the presence or absence of a registration
indicator indicating that the registrant or a person regularly occupying the
vehicle of a registrant has a disability that can impair communication, but it
shall not provide information about the type of health condition or disability
that the registrant or a person regularly occupying the vehicle of a registrant
has.

E. Any vehicle owner who has a registration indicator indicating that the
registrant or a person regularly occupying the vehicle of a registrant has a
disability that can impair communication may have such indicator removed by
requesting such removal, in writing, to the Department.

HISTORY: 2020, c. 786; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 358, 359, 421, 544.