Virginia HB 1220: Photo speed monitoring devices; placement and operation.

Bill Text

2026 SESSION

INTRODUCED

26104500D

HOUSE BILL NO. 1220

Offered January 14, 2026

Prefiled January 14, 2026

A BILL to amend and reenact § 46.2-882.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to photo speed monitoring devices; placement and operation.

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Patrons—Delaney; Senators: Aird and Peake

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Referred to Committee on Transportation

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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 46.2-882.1 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 46.2-882.1. Use of photo speed monitoring devices in highway work zones, school crossing zones, and high-risk intersection segments; civil penalty.

A. For the purposes of this section:

"High-risk intersection segment" means any highway or portion thereof located not more than 1,000 feet from the limits of the property of a school that is part of or adjacent to an intersection containing a marked crosswalk that is identified in the manner provided in this section as one in which a traffic fatality has occurred since January 1, 2014.

"Highway work zone" has the same meaning ascribed to it in § 46.2-878.1.

"Photo speed monitoring device" means equipment that uses radar or LIDAR-based speed detection and produces one or more photographs, microphotographs, videotapes, or other recorded images of vehicles.

"Operating costs" means the costs attributable to a locality's photo speed monitoring device program, including costs for (i) devices and associated equipment, including the installation and operation of such devices and equipment; (ii) signs and speed display signs indicating the use of a photo speed monitoring device; (iii) contracts with private vendors; and (iv) personnel costs.

"Retired sworn law-enforcement officer" means any officer of the United States, or of a state or political subdivision thereof, who was empowered by law to conduct investigations and make arrests and any attorney authorized by law to prosecute or participate in the prosecution of such offenses, who at the time of retirement kept an up-to-date certification and retired honorably in good standing. A retired sworn law-enforcement officer shall not be required to keep an up-to-date certification after the date of his retirement.

"School crossing zone" has the same meaning ascribed to it in § 46.2-873.

"Speed display sign" means a self-contained system that uses radar or LIDAR-based speed detection to measure the real-time speed of an approaching vehicle and displays that speed to the driver.

"Vehicle speed violation" means a violation of this title resulting from the operation of a vehicle in excess of the speed limit, including a violation of § 46.2-873 or 46.2-878.1.

"Workers are present" means two or more individuals are physically present and providing highway maintenance or construction services pursuant to a contract with the Department of Transportation or a political subdivision of the Commonwealth.

B. A state or local law-enforcement agency may place and operate a photo speed monitoring device in school crossing zones for the purposes of recording violations of § 46.2-873 and, when workers are present, in highway work zones for the purposes of recording violations of § 46.2-878.1.

A state or local law-enforcement agency may place and operate a photo speed monitoring device at a high-risk intersection segment located within the locality for the purpose of recording vehicle speed violations, provided that such law-enforcement agency certifies that a traffic fatality has occurred since January 1, 2014, in such segment.

C. The operator of a vehicle shall be liable for a monetary civil penalty imposed pursuant to this section if such vehicle is found, as evidenced by information obtained from a photo speed monitoring device, to be traveling at speeds of at least 10 miles per hour above the posted speed limit in the zone monitored by the photo speed monitoring device, provided that if such zone is a highway work zone, workers are present. Such civil penalty shall not exceed $100, and any prosecution shall be instituted and conducted in the same manner as prosecution for traffic infractions. Civil penalties collected under this section resulting from a summons issued by a local law-enforcement officer or retired sworn law-enforcement officer employed by a locality shall be paid to the locality in which such violation occurred to be used for its photo speed monitoring device program. Any funds in excess of those allocated for such purposes shall be deposited in a local fund used solely for planning, design, and construction projects for traffic safety; speed management; bicycle and pedestrian safety; and local systemic safety initiatives otherwise eligible for funding through the Virginia Highway Safety Improvement Program established pursuant to § 33.2-373. Any such excess funds shall first be used for such purposes in highway work zones, high-risk intersection segments, or school crossing zones prior to being used for such purposes in any ot