HB 788 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Vehicle crash reports; open to inspection by towing and recovery operators.

Summary
Vehicle crash reports; open to inspection by certain persons; towing and recovery operators. Makes certain vehicle crash reports open for inspection and available to towing and recovery operators that responded to a public safety towing request for the removal of a vehicle involved in such crash for purposes of obtaining registered owner information and insurance information for any such vehicle. The bill prohibits the dissemination of any such crash report received by such a towing and recovery operator to any other party.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Feb 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Signed Apr 6, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

Department of Motor Vehicles Subcommittee Substitute Chaptered · 2 edits
MINOR
The bill was finalized into law (Chapter 220) and includes a critical new restriction on towing companies. Previously, towing operators could access crash reports to get owner and insurance details; now, they are strictly limited to using that information only for the specific purpose of identifying the vehicle owner and insurer, and they are legally prohibited from sharing the report with anyone else.
Scope change
The bill's scope regarding who can access crash reports was narrowed for towing and recovery operators, adding a new confidentiality requirement.
REQUIREMENT

Towing and recovery operators must use crash report information solely to obtain registered owner and insurance details and cannot share the report with any other party.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting changes were applied to standardize the text style, such as adding spaces after section symbols.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 24, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 4, 2026

How they voted

380
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 39
Feb 24, 2026
D Democratic20
20 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican19
18 Yea 1
94% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
33
Key actions
12
Committee
7
Apr 6, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 220 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Feb 26, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Feb 26, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Feb 26, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB788ER)
lower
Feb 24, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Feb 23, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
upper
Feb 19, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Transportation (13-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 5, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Transportation
upper
Feb 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House (98-Y 0-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (97-Y 1-N 0-A)
lower
Jan 29, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Transportation with substitute (21-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 29, 2026
Lower · Passed
House committee offered
lower
Jan 27, 2026
Lower · Passed
House subcommittee offered
lower
Jan 22, 2026
Committee
Assigned HTRAN sub: Department of Motor Vehicles
lower
Jan 13, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Transportation
lower
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors