No, I’m not kidding. Having an air freshener hanging from the rear-view mirror in your car may land you in jail! And so can a small flag from your country, a graduation tassle, fuzzy dice, or any other object for that matter.
We’ve all seen them, and many of us have them – I’m talking about stuff hanging from the rear-view mirror in our cars. Walk into any Tienda and you’ll see little flags representing just about every country in the world. The United States is a melting pot, after all. And you’ll find the famous Christmas tree air fresheners too.
Who doesn’t love a fresh smelling car and a little home-country pride? The risk, however, is that these items hanging from your rear-view mirror can give the police a lawful reason to pull you over. And once they’ve pulled you over, they can arrest you if, for example, you don’t have a driver’s license or they see something illegal in your car.
Under Virginia Code § 46.2-1054, it is “unlawful for any person to drive a motor vehicle on a highway in the Commonwealth with any object or objects . . . suspended from any part of the motor vehicle in such a manner as to obstruct the driver’s clear view . . . through the windshield.”
The penalty for the dangling object itself is only a small fine, but be careful – that dangling object may land you in jail!