---
type: "Bill"
title: "Punitive damages; hit and run drivers."
description: "Punitive damages; hit and run drivers. Provides that in any action for personal injury or death arising from conduct that constitutes a felony hit and run, punitive damages may be awarded to the plaintiff."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 1479"
citation: "Virginia HB 1479 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Will Davis"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 29
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2026-01-23"
last_action: "2026-04-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/dfaf1902-12e3-4f43-a5b0-6f244e697818"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB1479"
source_hash: "322642b1e761edb33a868020372f716884f48e9f523a5a3f9f9bd81f2a445e54"
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 1479 (2026) — Punitive damages; hit and run drivers.

Punitive damages; hit and run drivers. Provides that in any action for personal injury or death arising from conduct that constitutes a felony hit and run, punitive damages may be awarded to the plaintiff.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1095397.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218130.PDF)
3. **Courts of Justice Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1202009.HTML)
4. **Senate Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1206291.HTML)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1213584.PDF)

## Votes

- H VOTE: — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Committee Amendment V — **26–14** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **9–1** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment — **13–1** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **37–3** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- H VOTE: — **96–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Will Davis — primary (person)
- Rae Cousins — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-23** Presented and ordered printed 26105555D `introduction`
- **2026-01-23** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-03** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1479)
- **2026-02-05** Assigned HCJ sub: Civil `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-09** Subcommittee recommends reporting (9-Y 1-N)
- **2026-02-11** Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-16** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2026-02-17** Read third time and passed House (97-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-18** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2026-02-18** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-09** Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment (13-Y 1-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-10** Rules suspended
- **2026-03-10** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-03-10** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-03-11** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-11** Committee amendment agreed to (26-Y 14-N 0-A) `amendment-passage`
- **2026-03-11** Engrossed by Senate as amended
- **2026-03-11** Passed Senate with amendment (37-Y 3-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-12** Senate amendment agreed to by House (97-Y 0-N 0-A) `amendment-passage`
- **2026-03-30** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-30** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1479ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-30** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-31** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1479)
- **2026-03-31** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-31** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-31** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-08** Approved by Governor-Chapter 473 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-08** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0473)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/dfaf1902-12e3-4f43-a5b0-6f244e697818`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).