Virginia traffic laws punish common driving mistakes more harshly than most states. Speeding 20 mph over the limit is a criminal misdemeanor, not a ticket. Holding your phone at a red light is illegal. Every occupant now has to wear a seatbelt, and the minimum insurance you must carry rose sharply in 2025. What follows is a working guide to the rules Virginia drivers hit most often, with the penalties and demerit points attached.
Speed Limits and When Speeding Becomes a Crime
The default maximum on Virginia interstates, limited-access divided highways, multilane highways, and all primary state routes is 55 mph.1Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-870 – Maximum Speed Limits Generally Trucks, tractor-trailers, and vehicles towing trailers on two-lane roads are held to 45 mph. Posted signs can raise the limit to 70 mph on interstates and divided limited-access highways, or to 60 mph on certain designated multilane divided routes.
Regular speeding is a traffic infraction. It becomes reckless driving, a Class 1 misdemeanor, at two specific thresholds: 20 mph or more over the posted limit, or any speed above 85 mph regardless of the limit.2Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-862 – Exceeding Speed Limit A separate general reckless statute covers driving that endangers life or property even when speed isn’t the issue.3Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-852 – Reckless Driving General Rule
A reckless conviction carries up to 12 months in jail, a fine of up to $2,500, and a possible license suspension of up to six months.4Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-868 – Reckless Driving Penalties5Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-11 – Punishment for Conviction of Misdemeanor It also leaves a criminal record. A mandatory $250 fine is added if you were holding a phone during the offense. If reckless driving causes a death and your license was already suspended for a moving violation, the charge becomes a Class 6 felony.
School Zones and Work Zones
In an active school zone marked by portable, tilt-over, or blinking “school” signs, the limit drops to 25 mph. Those signs go up 30 minutes before school starts and stay 30 minutes after dismissal, plus any time children are present. Some localities have adopted a 15 mph residential school-zone limit. Speeding through an active zone adds up to $250 to the standard fine.6Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-873 – Maximum Speed Limits at School Crossings
Highway work zones carry their own rule. Exceeding the posted work-zone limit when workers are present is a traffic infraction with a fine of up to $500.7Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-878.1 – Maximum Speed Limits in Highway Work Zones Penalty Holding a phone in a work zone triggers a separate mandatory $250 fine.
Driving Under the Influence
You cannot legally drive in Virginia with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or higher, while impaired by alcohol or drugs, or with specified concentrations of cocaine, methamphetamine, PCP, or MDMA in your blood.8Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-266 – Driving Motor Vehicle While Intoxicated9Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-270 – Penalty for Driving While Intoxicated10Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-271 – Forfeiture of Drivers License for Driving While Intoxicated Higher BAC readings and repeat offenses add mandatory minimum jail sentences and longer revocation periods.
Drivers Under 21
Virginia has a separate zero-tolerance statute for underage drivers. A BAC between 0.02% and 0.08% for anyone under 21 is a Class 1 misdemeanor with a one-year license forfeiture and either a mandatory minimum $500 fine or 50 hours of community service.11Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-266.1 – Persons Under Age 21 Driving After Illegally Consuming Alcohol At 0.08% or higher, the standard adult DUI statute applies.
Implied Consent and Refusing a Test
By driving on a Virginia highway, you consent in advance to a breath or blood test if you are arrested for DUI.12Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-268.2 – Implied Consent to Post-Arrest Testing Refusing has two consequences. Your license is administratively suspended for seven days on the spot.13Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-391.2 – Administrative Suspension of License The refusal itself is also a separate offense: a first refusal brings a one-year license suspension, and a second within ten years is a Class 1 misdemeanor with a three-year revocation on top of any DUI penalties.14Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-268.3 – Refusal of Tests Penalties Procedures
Hands-Free Phone Rule
You cannot hold a personal communications device while driving on any Virginia highway. Holding a phone to your ear, texting, and scrolling all qualify. A first offense costs $125; each later offense costs $250.15Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-818.2 – Use of Handheld Personal Communications Devices In a highway work zone, the fine is a mandatory $250 even on a first offense. Bluetooth earpieces, dash-mounted cradles, and vehicle-integrated systems are allowed.
Move-Over Law
On a highway with at least four lanes, when you approach a stationary emergency vehicle, tow truck, or highway maintenance vehicle showing flashing blue, red, or amber lights, you must move into a non-adjacent lane if you can do so safely. If you cannot change lanes, slow to a safe speed for conditions.16Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-861.1 – Drivers to Yield Right-of-Way or Reduce Speed
Failing to do so is charged as reckless driving, a Class 1 misdemeanor. If the violation damages property, the court can suspend your license for up to one year; if it causes injury or death, up to two years. The rule extends to vehicles displaying hazard flashers, caution signs, or lit flares, though failing to move over for those is a traffic infraction rather than reckless driving.
Signals, Stops, and Right-of-Way
Running a red light or rolling through a stop sign is a traffic infraction with a fine of up to $350.17Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-833 – Traffic Lights Penalty At an intersection with no signs or signals, when two vehicles arrive at roughly the same time, the driver on the left yields to the driver on the right.18Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-820 – Right-of-Way at Uncontrolled Intersections Generally
Signals are required before any turn, lane change, stop, or backing movement that could affect another vehicle.19Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-848 – Signals Required on Backing Stopping or Turning Where the limit is above 35 mph, the signal must run continuously for at least 100 feet before the move; at 35 mph or lower, at least 50 feet.20Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code Title 46.2 Chapter 8 – Article 6 Signals by Drivers
Pedestrians and Bicyclists
You must stop for any pedestrian who is in your lane or approaching from an adjacent lane at a marked crosswalk, an unmarked crosswalk at the end of a block, or any intersection where the limit is 35 mph or lower.21Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-924 – Drivers to Stop for Pedestrians When another vehicle has stopped for a pedestrian, you cannot pass it. A violation is a traffic infraction, but seriously injuring or killing a pedestrian lawfully in a crosswalk becomes a Class 1 misdemeanor.
When passing a bicycle, electric bicycle, moped, or animal on the road, leave at least three feet of clearance on the left and stay past the rider before returning to the right side of the highway.22Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-839 – Passing Bicycle or Other Vehicles
Seatbelts and Child Safety Seats
Since July 1, 2025, every occupant of a motor vehicle in Virginia must wear a seatbelt regardless of seating position.23Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Seat Belts and Airbags Before that date only front-seat occupants were covered. This is a primary enforcement law, so an officer can stop you solely for an unbuckled occupant.
Children through age seven must ride in an approved child safety seat or booster. Children under two must be in a rear-facing seat placed in the back. After a child outgrows rear-facing, they move to forward-facing with a harness, then a booster until the adult belt fits properly. Rear-facing seats belong in the front only when the vehicle has no back seat or the passenger airbag is deactivated. Fines run from $50 to $500.24Virginia Department of Health. Child Passenger Safety
After an Accident
If you are in a crash involving injury, death, or damage to an attended vehicle or property, you must stop immediately and give your name, address, driver’s license number, and vehicle registration to the other driver, any injured person, or law enforcement.25Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-894 – Duty of Driver to Stop in Event of Accident You must also render reasonable aid to anyone injured, including arranging transportation for medical care when needed.
Leaving the scene is punished harshly. If the crash caused injury, death, or more than $1,000 in property damage, fleeing is a Class 5 felony with up to 10 years in prison. If damage is $1,000 or less and no one was hurt, it is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
License, Registration, and Insurance
Driving without a valid license is a Class 2 misdemeanor on a first offense, punishable by up to six months in jail and up to a $1,000 fine.26Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-300 – Driving Without License Prohibited Penalties A second offense is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Every vehicle must be registered with the DMV before being driven on a highway.27Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-600 – Owner to Secure Registration and Certificate of Title
For policies effective on or after January 1, 2025, minimum liability coverage is $50,000 for injury or death of one person, $100,000 for injury or death of two or more people in one accident, and $25,000 for property damage.28Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Insurance Requirements Those limits are well above the previous 30/60/20 minimums. You must carry proof of insurance, physical or digital, whenever you drive.
If the DMV finds your vehicle uninsured, your license and registration are suspended. To restore them, you pay a $600 statutory fee into the Uninsured Motorist Fund, file an SR-22 proof of insurance for three years, and pay any reinstatement fees.29Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Uninsured Vehicle Penalty Virginia also requires an annual safety inspection for every registered vehicle, with a fresh inspection required immediately after registration.30Virginia State Police. Vehicle Inspection FAQs
Demerit Points and License Suspension
The DMV attaches demerit points to your record on every moving-violation conviction, sorted into three tiers by severity:31Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Moving Violations and Point Assessments
- Three points for minor infractions like driving five to nine mph over the limit or improper passing.
- Four points for more serious infractions such as running a red light, following too closely, or aggressive driving.
- Six points for the worst offenses, including reckless driving, DUI, and hit-and-run.
Points count toward suspension thresholds for two years from the violation date. The conviction stays visible on your driving transcript longer: three to five years for three- and four-point offenses, and up to 11 years for six-point offenses.
Twelve demerit points in 12 months, or 18 points in 24 months, forces you to attend a driver improvement clinic.32Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code Title 46.2 Chapter 3 – Article 19 Driver Improvement Program For drivers under 18, the thresholds are nine points in 12 months or 12 in 24. Reaching 18 points in 12 months or 24 in 24 months triggers a 90-day suspension that lasts until the clinic is complete.
Points can be earned back. Every full calendar year of a valid Virginia license with no violations or suspensions gives you one safe driving point, up to five banked.33Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-494 – Safe Driving Point Credit Voluntarily completing a driver improvement clinic once every two years also earns five safe driving points, even when the clinic isn’t required.