Virginia Code 46.2-1200: Definitions
As used in this article:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 46.2-1200
- Abandoned motor vehicle: means a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer that:
1. See Virginia Code 46.2-1200
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- Semitrailer: means every vehicle of the trailer type so designed and used in conjunction with a motor vehicle that some part of its own weight and that of its own load rests on or is carried by another vehicle. See Virginia Code 46.2-100
- Shoulder: means that part of a highway between the portion regularly traveled by vehicular traffic and the lateral curbline or ditch. See Virginia Code 46.2-100
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- Trailer: means every vehicle without motive power designed for carrying property or passengers wholly on its own structure and for being drawn by a motor vehicle, including manufactured homes. See Virginia Code 46.2-100
- Vehicle: means every device in, on or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn on a highway, except personal delivery devices and devices moved by human power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks. See Virginia Code 46.2-100
“Abandoned motor vehicle” means a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer that:
1. Weighs at least 75 pounds; and
2. (i) Is left unattended on public property for more than 48 hours in violation of a state law or local ordinance;
(ii) has remained for more than 48 hours on private property without the consent of the property’s owner, regardless of whether it was brought onto the private property with the consent of the owner or person in control of the private property; or
(iii) is left unattended on the shoulder of a primary highway.
“Scrap metal processor” means any person who is engaged in the business of processing motor vehicles into scrap for remelting purposes who, from a fixed location, utilizes machinery and equipment for processing and manufacturing ferrous and nonferrous metallic scrap into prepared grades, and whose principal product is metallic scrap.
“Vehicle removal certificate” means a transferable document issued by the Department for any abandoned motor vehicle that authorizes the removal and destruction of the vehicle.
1968, c. 421, § 46.1-555.1; 1978, c. 348; 1989, c. 727; 1997, c. 431; 2009, c. 664; 2011, cc. 487, 824; 2020, c. 977.