The Virginia Legislature passes new laws each year. Most of the time, these laws become effective on July 1 of that year, although some laws are considered to be so important that they become effective earlier, and occasionally the laws need more time for people to prepare and they might become effective on July 1 of the following year.
These new laws can have an impact on any part of your life in Virginia and can cover any facet of the law from regulations of industries that only affect a few people to traffic regulations that can possibly affect everyone.
This is important, because you are bound to obey these laws as soon as they become effective. This means that as of July 1, 2011, you may be found to be in violation of a law by performing an act that was perfectly legal on June 30th.
So, where do you find these laws? Some more popular laws are discussed in newspapers and in news stories. If you ride a motorcycle, you probably know that as of July 1, 2024 a motorcyclist can go through a red light if he/she has been sitting at a red light for at least 2 minutes, and has exercised due care in venturing into the intersection. This will be a new sub-section of section 46.2-833(B) with the current sub-sections B and C being now designated as C and D.
I admit that I like to read code sections. But I’m a lawyer and that’s my job. For most people, a short, simple outline of the new laws is more appropriate.
The Virginia Division of Legislative Services has prepared an easy-to-read summary of the new laws for 2011 in the pdf document “In Due Course” that can be found here. There is also a page devoted to new laws in 2011 on my website here.
If you have any questions about this or any other legal subject, please feel free to give us a call at 757-234-4650 or visit our website at http://www.BeaversLaw.com.
