---
type: "Bill"
title: "Intoxicated drivers; punitive damages for persons injured."
description: "Extends to blood tests performed by the Department of Forensic Science pursuant to a search warrant the rebuttable presumption in civil cases for punitive damages for injuries caused by intoxicated drivers that provides that a person's blood alcohol level demonstrated by a test performed pursuant to the implied consent statute is at least as high as the driver's blood alcohol level at the time of the accident. The bill further establishes a rebuttable presumption applicable in a civil case for punitive damages for injuries caused by an intoxicated driver that a person who has consumed alcohol knew or should have known that his ability to drive was or would be impaired by such consumption."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 1498"
citation: "Virginia SB 1498 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Administration of Government", "Civil Remedies and Procedure", "Crimes and Offenses Generally", "Criminal Procedure"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Scott A. Surovell"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 23
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2017-01-18"
last_action: "2017-03-20"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6e2efaf4-848f-4648-9477-e0f5da2997d3"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+SB1498"
source_hash: "2aebf5d8d7154f414e536ec8e1cf6595a46265ceaa98acd8118057ab6858f490"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 1498 (2017) — Intoxicated drivers; punitive damages for persons injured.

Extends to blood tests performed by the Department of Forensic Science pursuant to a search warrant the rebuttable presumption in civil cases for punitive damages for injuries caused by intoxicated drivers that provides that a person's blood alcohol level demonstrated by a test performed pursuant to the implied consent statute is at least as high as the driver's blood alcohol level at the time of the accident. The bill further establishes a rebuttable presumption applicable in a civil case for punitive damages for injuries caused by an intoxicated driver that a person who has consumed alcohol knew or should have known that his ability to drive was or would be impaired by such consumption.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0671)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+CHAP0671)
2. **House: Committee substitute printed 17105587D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1498H1)
3. **Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1498ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1498ER)
4. **Senate: Presented and ordered printed 17100598D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1498)
5. **Senate: Printed as engrossed 17100598D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB1498E)

## Votes

- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute — **21–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passed House with substitute BLOCK VOTE — **100–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **39–0** (pass) · legislature
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments — **8–0** (pass) · legislature
- House substitute agreed to by Senate — **40–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Courts of Justice with amendments — **15–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passed Senate — **40–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Scott A. Surovell — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-01-18** Presented and ordered printed 17100598D `introduction`
- **2017-01-18** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-06** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-02-06** Reading of amendments waived
- **2017-02-06** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2017-02-06** Engrossed by Senate as amended SB1498E
- **2017-02-06** Printed as engrossed 17100598D-E
- **2017-02-08** Placed on Calendar
- **2017-02-08** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2017-02-08** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-08** Assigned Courts sub: Civil Law `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-21** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-02-22** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2017-02-22** Committee substitute agreed to 17105587D-H1
- **2017-02-22** Engrossed by House - committee substitute SB1498H1
- **2017-02-22** Passed House with substitute BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2017-02-23** Title replaced 17105587D-H1
- **2017-03-07** Enrolled
- **2017-03-07** Signed by Speaker
- **2017-03-10** Signed by President
- **2017-03-13** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on 3/13/17
- **2017-03-13** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 27, 2017
- **2017-03-20** Approved by Governor-Chapter 671 (effective 7/1/17) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6e2efaf4-848f-4648-9477-e0f5da2997d3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).