Ask A Cop: Dangling From The Windshield
Reader asks if it is legal to keep your handicap sign on your mirror while driving. Got a question for the Fredericksburg Police Department? Email it to dan.telvock@patch.com
Question: I have a handicap parking sign. On my sign it clearly states remove from windshield when vehicle is in motion. However I pass, I would say 95 percent of handicap drivers are driving with the sign hanging up. If their signs say they are to remove the sign while driving, like mine does, there are a lot of people out there doing wrong. So my question is: Is it illegal to drive with your sign hanging from the windshield?
Answer: It is against the law to drive with anything suspended from the rear view mirror that may obstruct the driver’s vision.
§ 46.2-1054. Suspension of objects or alteration of vehicle so as to obstruct driver's view.
It shall be unlawful for any person to drive a motor vehicle on a highway in the Commonwealth with any object or objects, other than a rear view mirror, sun visor, or other equipment of the motor vehicle approved by the Superintendent, suspended from any part of the motor vehicle in such a manner as to obstruct the driver's clear view of the highway through the windshield, the front side windows, or the rear window, or to alter a passenger-carrying vehicle in such a manner as to obstruct the driver's view through the windshield. However, this section shall not apply (i) when the driver's clear view of the highway through the rear window is obstructed if such motor vehicle is equipped with a mirror on each side, so located as to reflect to the driver a view of the highway for at least 200 feet to the rear of such vehicle, (ii) to safety devices installed on the windshields of vehicles owned by private waste haulers or local governments and used to transport solid waste, or (iii) to bicycle racks installed on the front of any bus operated by any city, county, transit authority, or transit or transportation district.
BUT, the Fredericksburg traffic officer to whom I posed this question said that he had never stopped or charged anyone for this offense during his entire career, although he has known other officers to enforce this law – not necessarily involving handicap placards, but other dangling objects.
Jsmith
12:39 pm on Thursday, April 26, 2012
"...the Fredericksburg traffic officer to whom I posed this question said that he had never stopped or charged anyone for this offense during his entire career...."
If the law is not enforced, there is no law.
Rob
7:14 pm on Monday, April 30, 2012
§ 46.2-1054. Suspension of objects or alteration of vehicle so as to obstruct driver's view.
It shall be unlawful for any person to drive a motor vehicle on a highway in the Commonwealth with any object or objects, other than a rear view mirror, sun visor, or other equipment of the motor vehicle approved by the Superintendent, suspended from any part of the motor vehicle in such a manner as to obstruct the driver's clear view of the highway through the windshield, the front side windows, or the rear window, or to alter a passenger-carrying vehicle in such a manner as to obstruct the driver's view through the windshield. However, this section shall not apply (i) when the driver's clear view of the highway through the rear window is obstructed if such motor vehicle is equipped with a mirror on each side, so located as to reflect to the driver a view of the highway for at least 200 feet to the rear of such vehicle, (ii) to safety devices installed on the windshields of vehicles owned by private waste haulers or local governments and used to transport solid waste, or (iii) to bicycle racks installed on the front of any bus operated by any city, county, transit authority, or transit or transportation district.