CHAPTER 172

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 46.1-275, 46.1-281.1, 46.1-282, 46.1-298,
46.1-295.1, 46.1-808 and 46.1-811, as severally amended, of the Code
of Virginia, relating to standards for various items of equipment on
motor vehicles, to provide that such standards conform to those set
by the federal Department of Transportation. rH 874 i

Approved March 12, 1968

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 46.1-275, 46.1-281.1, 46.1-282, 46.1-293, 46.1-295.1, 46.1-308
and 46.1-311, as severally amended, of the Code of Virginia be amended
and reenacted as follows:

§ 46.1-275. Specifications for and tests of lighting devices.——The
Superintendent shall determine whether any lighting device of a type sold
for use or used upon any motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer will comply
with the requirements of this title and the specifications adopted by him
for laboratory tests. The Superintendent may adopt current specifications
of the Society of Automotive Engineers and regulations of the federal
Department of Transportation for such laboratory tests. He shall publish
lists of approved devices by name and type.

§ 46.1-281.1. Requirements as to brake fluid—(a) The term “hy-
draulic brake fluid’? as used in this section means the liquid medium
through which force is transmitted to the brakes in the hydraulic brake
system of a vehicle.

(b) Hydraulic brake fluid shall be distributed and serviced with due
regard for the safety of the occupants of vehicles and the public.

(c) The Superintendent of State Police shall, after public hearing
following due notice, adopt and enforce regulations for the administration
of this section and shall adopt and publish standards and specifications and
labeling for hydraulic brake fluid which shall, so far as practicable, con-
form to the then current * regulations of the federal Department of Trans-
portation applicable to such fluid.

(d) No person shall distribute, have for sale, offer for sale, sell or
service any vehicle with any hydraulic brake fluid unless it complies with
the requirements of this section.

(e) Any person violating any provision hereof or regulation adopted
hereunder shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

§ 46.1-282. Steering gear.—Every motor vehicle being operated
upon a highway shall be equipped with steering gear adequate to insure
the safe control of the vehicle which shall not show signs of weakness or
breaking under ordinary conditions. The Superintendent may adopt and
promulgate standards of adequacy of steering gear, which shall be the
current standard specifications of steering gear adopted by the United
States Bureau of Standards or the Society of Automotive Engineers, and
the regulations of the federal Department of Transportation for deter-
mining whether or not any motor vehicle operated upon any highway con-
forms to the requirements of the Department of State Police. .

§ 46.1-293. When safety glass required.—(a) It shall be unlawfuj
for any person to operate on any highway a motor vehicle registered in
this State and manufactured or assembled after January first. nineteen
hundred thirty-five, and designed or used for the purpose of carrying
persons for compensation or hire or as a public conveyance to transport
school children and others, unless such vehicle be equipped with safety
glass. wherever glass is used in doors, windows, windshields, and side-

lelds.
(b) It shall be unlawful to operate on any highway any motor ve-
hicle registered in this State, manufactured or assembled after January
first, nineteen hundred thirty-six, unless such vehicle be equipped with
safety glass approved by the Superintendent, or meets the standards
and specifications of the American Standards Association and the regula-
tions of the federal Department of Transportation whenever glass is used
in doors, windows, windshields and sideshields.

(c) The term “safety glass’ as used in this section shall be construed
to mean any product composed of glass so manufactured, fabricated or
treated as substantially to prevent shattering and flying of the glass when
struck or broken. The Commissioner shall maintain a list of types of glass
approved by the Superintendent as conforming to the specifications and
requirements for safety glass as set forth in this section and shall not issue
a license for or relicense any motor vehicle subject to the provisions herein
stated unless such motor vehicle be equipped as herein provided with such
approved type of glass. :

(d) No glazing material other than safety glass shall be used in any
motor vehicle registered in this State, except that the Superintendent may
permit safety glazing materials other than glass to be used in lieu of
safety glass in portions of motor vehicles, trailers and semitrailers desig-
nated by him; provided any such material so used bears a trade name or
identifying mark, and has been submitted to and approved by the Super-
intendent for such use prior to being used in any such motor vehicle,
trailer or semitrailer.

(e) If any person shall operate any vehicle in violation of the pro-
visions of this section, he shall be punished as provided in § 46.1-16; if
such person shall operate such vehicle under a certificate issued by the
state Corporation Commission, in addition to the penalty provided in
§ 46.1-16 the certificate of such person may in the discretion of the State
Corporation Commission be suspended until the provisions of this section
are satisfactorily complied with.

(f) Replacement safety glass installed in any part of a vehicle other
than the windshield need not bear a trademark or name, provided the glass
consists of two or more sheets of glass separated by a glazing material,
and provided the glass is cut from a piece of approved safety glass, and
provided the edge of the glass can be observed.

§ 46.1-295.1. Specifications for tires used on passenger motor ve-
hicles—No person shall sell, offer or expose for sale or use on Virginia
registered motor vehicles, designed and licensed primarily for passenger
vehicular transportation, being operated over the highways of this State,
any tire that does not meet or exceed the tire safety specifications and
requirements established by the Superintendent of State Police pursuant
to § 46.1-311. For the purposes of this section, such tire safety specifi-
cations and requirements * shall be the same as those specifications and
requirements of the * standards established by the federal Department of
Transportation.

(a) Such specifications and requirements shall contain but not be
confined to, various tire and rim sizes, tire strength ratings, endurance
requirements, braking energy requirements, high speed performance and
adequate identification suitable for administering this section.

(b) These specifications and requirements shall be effective on the
date published by the Superintendent after adequate notice.

§ 46.1-308. Illegal possession or sale of unapproved equipment.—lIt
shall be unlawful for any person to possess with intent to sell or offer for
sale, either separately or as a part of the equipment of a motor vehicle, or
to use or have as equipment upon a motor vehicle operated on a highway
any lighting device, warning device. signal device, safety glass or other
equipment on which approval is herein required or any part or parts tend-
ing to change or alter the operation of such device, glass or other equipment
unless of a type that has been submitted to and approved by the Super-
intendent, or meets or exceeds the standards and specifications of the
Society of Automotive Engineers * the American Standards Association
and the federal Department of Transportation.

§ 46.1-311. Procedure for approval of equipment.—The Superintend-
ent may establish a procedure for the approval of equipment required tc
be so approved. Such procedure shall include the submission of a sample
of the device for test and record purposes, submission of evidence that the
device complies with this title and with recognized testing standards which
the Superintendent is hereby authorized to adopt, and payment of the fee
hereinafter provided. The Superintendent shall then within a reasonable
time either disapprove the device or issue a certificate of approval therefor.

The Superintendent may waive such approval and the issuance of a
certificate of approval when the device or equipment required to be ap-
proved by this title is identified as complying with the standards and speci-
fications of the Society of Automotive Engineers or the American Stand-
ards ‘Association, and the regulations of the federal Department of Trans-
portation.