Duty of care and liability of landowner; injury or death of person operating off-road motorcycle.

Plain English Breakdown

The exact implications on insurance policies and other legal agreements remain unclear based on the provided official source material.

Landowner's Duty and Liability for Off-Road Motorcycle Use

This law says that landowners do not have to be careful about people riding off-road motorcycles on their property, unless the landowner is grossly negligent or malicious.

What This Bill Does

• It states that a landowner does not owe any duty of care to someone who rides an off-road motorcycle on their land without permission.
• If a landowner provides an off-road motorcycle for use on their land, they are not liable for injuries or deaths resulting from the operation of the motorcycle unless they act with gross negligence or willful misconduct.
• Landowners cannot be seen as insuring riders' safety when allowing them to ride off-road motorcycles on their property.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who ride off-road motorcycles without permission on others' land.
• Landowners whose land might have people riding off-road motorcycles on it.

Terms To Know

Off-road motorcycle

A type of motorcycle designed to be used on rough, unpaved terrain.

Gross negligence

When someone is extremely careless and does not take reasonable care for the safety of others.

Limits and Unknowns

• The law doesn't specify what happens if a landowner gives permission but fails to warn riders about known dangers.
• It's unclear how this will affect insurance policies or other legal agreements between landowners and motorcycle users.

Official Summary Text

Duty of care and liability of landowner; injury or death of person operating off-road motorcycle.
Provides that a landowner, defined in the bill, owes no duty of care to another person (i) who operates an off-road motorcycle, defined in the bill, on such landowner's land or (ii) to whom the landowner has provided an off-road motorcycle for use on such landowner's land, regardless of whether such landowner has given such person permission or has received a fee from such other person to use the land or off-road motorcycle for such purpose. The bill immunizes the landowner from civil liability for any injury or death arising from the operation of an off-road motorcycle on the landowner's land except in cases of gross negligence or willful or malicious failure to guard or warn against a dangerous condition, provision of an off-road motorcycle that such landowner knew was unsafe to the extent that operation of such off-road motorcycle would likely result in an injury, or other act or omission resulting from gross negligence or willful misconduct.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL NO. 451

AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE

(Proposed by the Senate Committee for Courts of Justice

on ________________)

(Patron Prior to Substitute--Senator Jordan)

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered
8.01-219.2
, relating to duty of care and liability of landowner; injury or death of person operating off-road motorcycle.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered
8.01-219.2
as follows:

§
8.01-219.2
.
Duty of care
and liability
of
landowner
for

persons
operating
off-road motorcycles.

A. For purposes of this section:

"
Land" or "premises" means real property or right-of-way, whether rural or urban,
waters, boats, private ways, natural growth, trees, railroad property, railroad right-of-way, utility corridor, and any building or structure that might be located on such real property, waters, boats, private ways, and natural growth.

"Landowner" means the legal title holder, any easement holder,
the
lessee,
the
occupant, or any other person in control of land or premises.

"Off-road motorcycle" means the same as defined in §
46.2-100
.

B.
Except as otherwise provided in this section, n
o
landowner

shall be civilly liable to any
other pe
rson
who
operate
s
an off-road motorcycle on
such landowner's
land
, regardless of whether such landowner has given such person permission to use such land for
such purpose
or whether such person has paid a fee to the landowner for use of such land for such purpose
,
when
such person
operating an off-road motorcycle
understands
the inherent risks of
such activity,
fully appreciates
the nature and extent of such risks, and
voluntarily accepts
such risks
, including any dangerous condition
s
known to the person
operating an off-roa
d motorcycle
that may exist on such landowner's land
.
Additionally,
no landowner
who provides any person with an off-road motorcycle
for use on such land
, regardless of whether
such landowner receives a fee for use of the off-road motorcycle,
shall be
civilly liable for any
injury or death resulting from
such person's
misuse
in
op
erating such off-road motorcycle
.

C.
No
landowner who gives permission, express or implied,
for another person to
operate an off-road motorcycle on the landowner's land
shall

become an insurer of such person's safety
.

D.
Nothing contained in this section shall limit the lia
bility of a landowner if injury or death arises from the landowner's
(i)
gross negligence
or willful or malicious failure to guard or warn against a dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity
; (ii) provision of an off-road motorcycle that the landow
ner
knew
was unsafe to the extent that
operating such off-road motorcycle would likely result in an injury; or (iii)
other act or omission resulting from gross negligence or willful misconduct
.