§ 46.2-1157. Requirement of inspection; well-drilling machinery, antique motor vehicle excepted. The Superintendent may compel, by proclamation of the Governor or otherwise, the owner or operator of any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer registered in Virginia and operated on a highway within this Commonwealth to submit his vehicle to an inspection of its mechanism and equipment by an official inspection station, designated for that purpose, in accordance with § 46.2-1158. No owner or operator shall fail to submit a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer operated on the highways in this Commonwealth to such inspection or fail or refuse to correct or have corrected in accordance with the requirements of this title any mechanical defects found by such inspection to exist. The provisions of this section requiring safety inspections of motor vehicles shall also apply to vehicles used for fire fighting; inspections of fire-fighting vehicles shall be conducted pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Superintendent of State Police, taking into consideration the special purpose of such vehicles and the conditions under which they operate. Each day during which such motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer is operated on any highway in this Commonwealth after failure to comply with this law shall constitute a separate offense. However, no penalty shall be imposed on any owner or operator for operation of a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer after the expiration of a period fixed for the inspection thereof, over the most direct route between the place where such vehicle is kept or garaged and an official inspection station, for the purpose of having it inspected pursuant to a prior appointment with such station. Further, no penalty shall be imposed on any owner or operator of a truck, tractor truck, trailer, or semitrailer for which the period fixed for inspection has expired while the vehicle was outside the Commonwealth and that penalty is for operation of such vehicle (i) from a point outside the Commonwealth to the place where such vehicle is kept or garaged within the Commonwealth or (ii) to a destination within the Commonwealth where such vehicle will be (a) unloaded within twenty-four hours of entering the Commonwealth, (b) inspected within such twenty-four hour period, and (c) after being unloaded, will be operated only to an inspection station or to the place where it is kept or garaged within the Commonwealth. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any vehicle for transporting well-drilling machinery licensed under § 46.2-700 or to any antique motor vehicle as defined in § 46.2-100 and licensed pursuant to § 46.2-730. Notwithstanding the penalty provisions of § 46.2-1171, a violation of this section constitutes a traffic infraction. (Code 1950, § 46-317; 1950, p. 691; 1958, c. 541, § 46.1-315; 1962, c. 246; 1978, cc. 275, 605; 1982, c. 646; 1989, c. 727; 1991, cc. 107, 717; 1993, c. 134; 1995, c. 670; 1997, c. 283.)