What is the difference between primary and secondary violations?Primary violations are offenses that allow a police officer to pull you over and issue a citation. Speeding is an example of a primary violation. Secondary violations cannot lead to traffic stops by themselves. For instance, a malfunctioning headlight is a secondary violation; a police officer cannot pull you over solely due to this minor offense.
What should I know about the 2021 Virginia traffic bill?
A bill was passed on March 1st, 2021 to downgrade primary offenses to secondary offenses. Further, localities are not permitted to change a secondary offense into a primary offense in their ordinance. These changes can be associated with a session in 2020 that aimed to address racial disparities and profiling in traffic stops in Virginia’s justice system. The following is a list of changes brought on by the 2021 bill.
While the scent of marijuana from a motor vehicle used to be classified as a primary offense and constitute a traffic stop, it is now a secondary offense.
Noisy or malfunctioning exhaust systems in motorcycles, mopeds, and cars, which includes “mufflers and other sound dissipative devices,” can no longer be the sole cause for a traffic stop. Further, faulty brake lights or tail lights are no longer considered a primary offense.
Suspending items in your vehicle, namely from the rearview mirror, is now a secondary traffic offense in Virginia.
Tinted windows are a secondary offense; however, tinting past a certain measure is still illegal.
After this bill, drivers can no longer get pulled over if their safety inspection and/or registration tags are expired by four months or less.
This bill also modified pedestrian laws: police officers can no longer stop pedestrians who jaywalk or cross highways or streets with inadequate regard for safety.
