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2016 SESSION

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16100984D
HOUSE BILL NO. 1010 Offered January 13, 2016 Prefiled January 13, 2016 A BILL to amend and reenact § 46.2-1044 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 4 of Chapter 2 of Title 33.2 a section numbered 33.2-280.1, relating to the use of tire chains by semitrailers. ---------- Patron-- Rush ---------- Referred to Committee on Transportation ----------

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 46.2-1044 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted and that the Code of Virginia is amended by adding in Article 4 of Chapter 2 of Title 33.2 a section numbered 33.2-280.1 as follows:

§ 33.2-280.1. Use of tire chains.

From October 15 to April 15, the Department may require semitrailers, as defined in 46.2-100, to use tire chains of reasonable proportions when necessary for safety because of snow, ice, or other conditions tending to cause a vehicle to slide or skid by informing motorists of such requirement using smart roadway technologies.

§ 46.2-1044. Cleats, etc., on tires; chains; tires with studs.

No tire on a vehicle moved on a highway shall have on its periphery any block, stud, flange, cleat, spike, or any other protuberance of any material other than rubber which projects beyond the tread of the traction surface of the tire. It However, it shall be permissible, however, to use on the highways (i) farm machinery having protuberances which that will not injure the highway and to use; (ii) tire chains of reasonable proportions when required for safety because of snow, ice, or other conditions tending to cause a vehicle to slide or skid. It shall also be permissible to use on; and (iii) any vehicle whose gross weight does not exceed 10,000 pounds tires with studs which that project no more than one-sixteenth of an inch beyond the tread of the traction surface of the tire when compressed if the studs cover no more than three percent of the traction surface of the tire.

The use of studded tires shall be permissible only from October 15 to April 15. The use of tire chains by semitrailers shall be required whenever notice is provided pursuant to § 33.2-280.1.

The provisions of this section shall not apply to any (i) (a) law-enforcement vehicle operated by or under the direction of a federal, state, or local law-enforcement officer; (ii) (b) vehicle used to fight fire, including publicly owned state forest warden vehicles; (iii) (c) emergency medical services vehicle; or (iv) (d) vehicle owned or operated by the Virginia Department of Transportation or its contractors in maintenance and emergency response operations.