                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

HEIGHT OF VEHICLES; DAMAGE TO OVERHEAD OBSTRUCTION; PENALTY (§ 46.2-1110)

No loaded or unloaded vehicle shall exceed a height of 13 feet, six inches.

Nothing contained in this section shall require either the public authorities or
railroad companies to provide vertical clearances of overhead bridges or
structures in excess of 12 feet, six inches, or to make any changes in the
vertical clearances of existing overhead bridges or structures crossing
highways. The driver or owner of vehicles on highways shall be held financially
responsible for any damage to overhead bridges or structures that results from
collisions therewith.

The driver or owner of any vehicle colliding with an overhead bridge or
structure shall immediately notify, either in person or by telephone, a
law-enforcement officer or the public authority or railroad company, owning or
maintaining such overhead bridge or structure of the fact of such collision, and
his name, address, driver&#8217;s license number, and the registration number of
his vehicle. Failure to give such notice immediately, either in person or by
telephone, shall constitute a Class 1 misdemeanor.

On any highway maintained by the Department of Transportation over which there
is a bridge or structure having a vertical clearance of less than 14 feet, the
Commissioner of Highways shall have at least two signs erected setting forth the
height of the bridge or structure. Such signs shall be located at least 1,500
feet ahead of the bridge or structure.

On any highway maintained by a county, city, or town over which a bridge or
structure has a vertical clearance of less than 14 feet, the local governing
body shall have at least two signs erected setting forth the height of the
bridge or structure. Such signs shall be located at least 1,500 feet ahead of
the bridge or structure.

The Department of Transportation may install and use overheight vehicle optical
detection systems to identify vehicles that exceed the overhead clearance of the
westbound tunnel of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel on Interstate 64. When the
optical system sensor located closest to the westbound tunnel entrance is used
in identifying such vehicles, the system shall be installed at the specified
height as determined by measurement standards that have been certified by the
Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and are
traceable to national standards of measurement. Such identification by such
system shall, for all purposes of law, be equivalent to having measured the
height of the vehicle with a tape measure or other measuring device. When an
employee of the Department of Transportation or the Department of State Police
identifies a vehicle whose height exceeds 13 feet, six inches and whose driver
is driving or attempting to drive through the westbound tunnel of the Hampton
Roads Bridge Tunnel on Interstate 64, the driver of such vehicle may elect to
wait until the end of peak traffic periods, as determined by the Department of
Transportation, so that the Department of Transportation or Department of State
Police may safely stop traffic and allow such vehicle to proceed in the opposite
direction. If the driver does not elect to wait, he shall be subject to the
penalties under this section.

Any person who drives or attempts to drive any vehicle or combination of
vehicles into or through any tunnel when the height of such vehicle, any vehicle
in a combination of vehicles, or any load on any such vehicle exceeds that
permitted for such tunnel, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, in addition,
shall be assessed three driver demerit points. In addition, the driver of any
such vehicle shall be fined $1,000, of which $1,000 shall be a mandatory
minimum. For subsequent offenses, the owner of any such vehicle shall be fined
$2,500, of which $2,500 shall be a mandatory minimum.

A violation of this section shall be deemed for all purposes a moving violation.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 46-327; 1950, p. 480; 1958, c. 541, § 46.1-329; 1962, c.
85; 1984, c. 780; 1989, c. 727; 2001, c. 94; 2005, cc. 542, 543; 2006, Sp. Sess.
I, c. 6; 2011, c. 620; 2015, c. 181.