---
type: "Bill"
title: "Air bags; counterfeit or nonfunctional bags prohibited."
description: "Provides that a person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor if he knowingly manufactures, imports, sells, installs, or reinstalls a counterfeit air bag or nonfunctional air bag, or any device that is intended to conceal a counterfeit air bag or nonfunctional air bag, in a motor vehicle. The bill provides an exemption for the sale, installation, reinstallation, or replacement of a motor vehicle air bag on a vehicle solely used for police work. The bill also provides that any sale, installation, reinstallation, or replacement of a motor vehicle air bag with a counterfeit, nonfunctional, or otherwise unlawful air bag shall not be construed as a superseding cause that limits the liability of any party in any civil action."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 2143"
citation: "Virginia HB 2143 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Motor Vehicles"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Robert B. Bell"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 22
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2019-01-08"
last_action: "2019-03-14"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/02445693-a44e-4074-88bb-291bf34ccd65"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+sum+HB2143"
source_hash: "7139903684ebfb9d150bcae2ef3c11682e68a52700dc422e21cdf0c86deaaa75"
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 HB 2143 (2019) — Air bags; counterfeit or nonfunctional bags prohibited.

Provides that a person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor if he knowingly manufactures, imports, sells, installs, or reinstalls a counterfeit air bag or nonfunctional air bag, or any device that is intended to conceal a counterfeit air bag or nonfunctional air bag, in a motor vehicle. The bill provides an exemption for the sale, installation, reinstallation, or replacement of a motor vehicle air bag on a vehicle solely used for police work. The bill also provides that any sale, installation, reinstallation, or replacement of a motor vehicle air bag with a counterfeit, nonfunctional, or otherwise unlawful air bag shall not be construed as a superseding cause that limits the liability of any party in any civil action.

## Version chain

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

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0392)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+CHAP0392)
2. **House subcommittee amendments and substitutes adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://committees.lis.virginia.gov/subcommitteeaction.aspx?ses=191&bil=HB2143)
3. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2143ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2143ER)
4. **House: Committee substitute printed 19104899D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2143H1)
5. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19104063D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2143)
6. **Senate: Committee substitute printed 19106867D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2143S1)

## Votes

- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate with substitute — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute — **18–0** (pass) · lower
- Senate substitute agreed to by House 19106867D-S1 — **98–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Robert B. Bell — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19104063D `introduction`
- **2019-01-08** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-14** Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #1 `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-23** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2019-01-24** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2019-01-24** Committee substitute agreed to 19104899D-H1
- **2019-01-24** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB2143H1
- **2019-01-25** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (97-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-01-28** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2019-01-28** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-18** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2019-02-18** Reading of substitute waived
- **2019-02-18** Committee substitute agreed to 19106867D-S1
- **2019-02-18** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute HB2143S1
- **2019-02-19** Placed on Calendar
- **2019-02-19** Senate substitute agreed to by House 19106867D-S1 (98-Y 0-N)
- **2019-02-22** Enrolled
- **2019-02-22** Signed by Speaker
- **2019-02-22** Signed by President
- **2019-03-04** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 4, 2019
- **2019-03-04** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 26, 2019
- **2019-03-14** Approved by Governor-Chapter 392 (effective 7/1/19) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/02445693-a44e-4074-88bb-291bf34ccd65`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).