Virginia SB 376: Motor vehicle collisions; preservation and collection of certain mobile telephone data.

Bill Text

2026 SESSION

INTRODUCED

26104875D

SENATE BILL NO. 376

Offered January 14, 2026

Prefiled January 13, 2026

A BILL to amend and reenact § 46.2-373 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 8.01-417.02, relating to motor vehicle collisions; preservation and collection of certain mobile telephone data; collision reports.

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Patron—Surovell

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Referred to Committee on Transportation

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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 46.2-373 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted and that the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 8.01-417.02 as follows:

§ 8.01-417.02. Motor vehicle collisions; requests for certain mobile telephone information to be preserved.

A. After an attorney certifies that he represents an injured person pursuant to subsection C to the mobile telephone provider of the individual alleged to have caused such injured person's injuries, such attorney may, prior to the filing of a civil action for personal injuries sustained as a result of a collision, request in writing that the mobile telephone provider of the individual alleged to have caused the injured person's injuries preserve for a period of 180 days from the date of such request the following records or information relating to a specific phone number, to the extent that such records or information are available when such request is received by the mobile telephone provider, from the two hours immediately preceding and the two hours immediately following such collision: (i) subscriber information; (ii) incoming and outgoing call logs; (iii) incoming and outgoing text message logs, not including the content of such text messages; (iv) any Internet Protocol (IP) addresses assigned to the phone; (v) the Media Access Control (MAC) address or other unique identifier of the mobile telephone; (vi) the history of any servers accessed by the phone, including the date and time accessed; and (vii) real-time location data. Such records may be preserved for 180 days in a manner consistent with the policies of the mobile telephone provider and shall be retained in the event that such records are subpoenaed or otherwise requested by a party in a pending action. Any request to preserve such records or information for 180 days may be renewed by the injured person's attorney, in writing, as needed.

B. Upon request from the attorney representing an injured person, the insurance carrier of the individual alleged to have caused the injured person's injuries shall advise such attorney whether the individual was utilizing an application through the insurance carrier to monitor the individual's driving. If such application was utilized, the insurance carrier shall, upon request from the injured person's attorney, preserve for three years from the date of the collision the application data for the two hours immediately preceding and the two hours immediately following such collision.

C. For the purposes of this section, an attorney representing an injured person shall certify in accordance with the provisions of § 8.01-4.3 that such attorney has been retained to represent the injured person in relation to a specific collision. Such certification shall include the date, time, and place of the collision and shall include the name of the injured person the attorney has been retained to represent. The attorney shall notify the mobile telephone provider within 15 days of a termination of his representation or decision not to file an action.

§ 46.2-373. Report by law-enforcement officer investigating collision.

A. Every law-enforcement officer who in the course of duty investigates a motor vehicle accident collision resulting in injury to or death of any person or total property damage to an apparent extent of $1,500 or more, either at the time of and at the scene of the accident collision or thereafter and elsewhere, by interviewing participants or witnesses shall, within twenty-four 24 hours after completing the investigation, forward a written report of the accident collision to the Department. The investigating law-enforcement officer shall ask any driver involved in the collision about such driver's mobile telephone usage leading up to and at the time of the collision and whether such driver uses an insurance or other telematics application to monitor driving. The report shall include the name or names of the insurance carrier or of the insurance agent of the automobile liability policy on each vehicle involved in the accident collision and if the driver of any vehicle involved in the collision uses an application to monitor driving through such insurance carrier. A law-enforcement agency may utilize a contracted service provider to forward reports electronically to the Department in compliance with this section and to manage or disseminate copies of such reports to persons identified in, and in a manner consistent with, § 46.2-380, provided such cont