New traffic safety laws take effect today, July 1, in Virginia to reduce crashes and fatalities.
The laws require all adult passengers to wear seatbelts, expanding the previous front-seat-only rule. This change responds to data showing 35% of 2024 crash deaths involved unbelted occupants, according to Virginia DMV.
The new seat belt law is named for Christopher King, a James City County teen who was killed when he was thrown from a vehicle in a crash on July 4, 2020.
“This law is definitely going to help. But we still have a lot of education to do about how important the back seat is to pick to buckle up. And we will continue to strengthen the seatbelt laws and other laws that will save lives,” said Christy King, Christopher’s mother and founder of the Christopher King Foundation.
The violation remains a secondary offense, and the foundation hopes Virginia will join 35 other states in making seat belt violations a primary offense, allowing police to pull people over without first doing so for an offense like speeding or improper equipment.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) ranks Virginia last among the 50 states in seat belt use, at 73.2%, well below the national average of 91.9%. Virginia even ranks below New Hampshire (77.9%), which is the only state without a seat belt law.
“As close as D.C., they have a primary law and you can see their numbers are much higher than Virginia’s in wearing seat belts just from that law ... it just continues to save more and more lives,” said Fred Hamnah, Christopher’s friend and a member of the foundation.
Virginia also cracks down on street racing and dangerous exhibition driving with expanded reckless driving definitions. The law targets illegal street takeovers, drifting, and riding on vehicle roofs or hoods. Virginia ranked sixth nationwide for street racing in 2023.
To address speeding, judges may require convicted reckless drivers to install intelligent speed assistance devices that prevent exceeding speed limits. This requirement is mandatory for those driving over 100 mph. This law takes effect July 1, 2026.
Morgan Dean of AAA Mid-Atlantic said, “Too many people have lost their lives in crashes in the Commonwealth and this legislation aims to lower these statistics.”
These measures aim to improve safety for drivers, passengers, pedestrians and bicyclists across Virginia.