Yes readers there is a roadkill law in the state of Virginia.

Every year the Virginia General Assembly introduces new laws which typically go into effect on July 1st.  Such is the case this year as well.

Some of the new laws for 2024 involve unregistered farm-use vehicles, 2 new gun laws, Virginia cities may reduce speed limits on some roads to 15mph, declawing of cats is now illegal and the one I'll be talking about in this story is called "Virginia Roadkill Ownership Law."

Read about all of the new laws here...

That one really got my attention when I saw the headline.

Even the delegate that introduced the bill last year said "Let the jokes begin."

My initial reaction was "there is a law for this in the first place?"  And my thoughts immediately went to "Did a couple of neighbors get into a fist fight over a possum in the road in front of their house?"  So I just knew I had to get to the bottom of this one.  

Lucky for you I did the research so you don't have to!  (You can thank me later!). 

So, before July 1st 2024 the law basically said this and I am paraphrasing here: "If a motorist hits a deer or bear with their vehicle they can claim the award after properly contacting authorities.  But this can only take place during open hunting seasons."  So the way I read it was that if you hit a deer with your car in June you can't "harvest" it off of the road because it's not in season.  But during the open months you can. 

Here is the change that because effective yesterday, July 1st.  Now someone else other than the driver can claim the animal that has been hit.  You still have to do it properly by contacting authorities first.  They will come out and inspect the animal and determine if it is worthy of being claimed, meaning does it appear to have been hit by a vehicle or was it killed by some other means.  The new law has also been expanded to include turkeys and elk.  

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So after reading this I'm still like "Why do we need this law?  Why was this even an issue?"

Well the answer is not as exciting as my initial thought about the two neighbors getting into a fight. 

Instead the law was brought about to curb poachers.  Apparently back in the day the popular thing to do would be to stop along the side of the road and kill a deer or bear any time they wanted but claimed they hit it with their vehicle when reporting it.  So to discourage people from doing this the original law was enacted by the General Assembly but a lot of folks thought it was too strict.  So that's the reason for the updated and expanded law.   

So here's my final 2 cents; hitting a deer can do a ton of damage to your car.  I know because I've done it (took the whole front end off my car and busted the radiator).  If I were to hit a bear or elk with my car which are much larger animals, the absolute last thing I'm going to be thinking about is claiming the thing responsible for totaling my car!

What are your thoughts on this new law or any of the others?  Comment on this post and let me know!!

Jonathan

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