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2005 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Transportation

Chairman: Martin E. Williams

Clerk: Bonnie W. Shelhorse
Staff: Alan Wambold, Stephanie Bishop
Date of Meeting: January 20, 2005
Time and Place: 2:00 pm/Senate Room B

S.B. 738 Route 73; establishes special fund to expedite construction in Henry County.

Patron: Reynolds

Fund to expedite construction of I-73 in Henry County.  Establishes a special fund to expedite construction of I-73 in Henry County. The Fund consists of the first $3 million of annual collections of state taxes on motor fuels, fees and charges on motor vehicle registrations, road taxes or any other state revenue allocated for highway purposes.

S.B. 784 Driver's licenses; prohibits use of cell phones by persons less than 18 years old.

Patron: Mims

Youthful drivers.  Prohibits use of wireless telecommunications devices by holders of provisional driver's licenses while operating motor vehicles. The bill also eliminates the "secondary offense" provision of the section dealing with operators holding provisional driver's licenses.

S.B. 797 Transportation Trust Fund; allocation of construction funds.

Patron: Watkins

Allocation of construction funds within secondary system.  Provides that secondary road construction funds allocated under § 33.1-23.4 shall be disbursed directly to the county, if so requested by resolution of the governing body. Any county receiving a direct allocation of funds shall certify to the Commonwealth Transportation Board that such funds will be expended exclusively for secondary road projects and according to appropriate standards.

S.B. 802 Route 58; establishes special fund to expedite construction improvements in certain counties.

Patron: Reynolds

Fund to expedite improvements to U.S. Route 58 in Carroll, Grayson, and Patrick Counties.  Establishes a special fund to expedite construction of improvements to U.S. Route 58 in Carroll, Grayson, and Patrick Counties. The Fund consists of the first $3 million of annual collections of state taxes on motor fuels, fees and charges on motor vehicle registrations, road taxes, or any other state revenue allocated for highway purposes.

S.B. 820 License plates, special; issuance of those bearing legend: DRIVE SMART.

Patron: Williams

Special license plates; DRIVE SMART.  Credits revenue-sharing revenues generated by the DRIVE SMART special license plates to Drive Smart Virginia instead of the Department of Motor Vehicles.

S.B. 821 Driver's license, acceptability of foreign; allowance of learner's permit if at least 19 yrs. old.

Patron: Williams

Acceptability of foreign driver's license as the equivalent to a learner's permit. Allows any person at least 19 years old to have the learner's permit or driver education requirement waived if that person possesses a foreign driver's license. This bill also prohibits unlicensed non-residents who are over the age of 16 years and 3 months from operating non-commercial motor vehicles without a Virginia driver's license.

S.B. 825 Weight limits; allows all localities to adopt truck weight limits.

Patron: Mims

Overweight truck penalties. Allows all counties, cities, and towns to adopt truck weight limit ordinances, parallel to state law, and to assess and collect penalties for violations of such ordinances and use the proceeds to support either local highway construction and maintenance or local vehicle safety inspection programs. The bill makes other nonsubstantive editorial changes as well.

S.B. 845 Advertising within highway rights-of-way.

Patron: Deeds

Advertising within highway rights-of-way.  Grants the City of Charlottesville the same ability presently granted to Fairfax County to enter into agreements with the Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner for enforcing provisions of § 33.1-373 relating to advertising within highway rights-of-way.

S.B. 924 Pickup or panel trucks; bumper height limitations same as cars.

Patron: Blevins

Modified vehicles.  Applies to pickup or panel trucks the same bumper height limitations presently applicable to passenger vehicles.

S.B. 955 VASCAR speed determination devices; allows City of Charlottesville to use.

Patron: Deeds

Use of VASCAR speed determination devices.  Adds the City of Charlottesville to the list of localities that may use VASCAR (visual average speed computer and recorder) speed determination devices. Presently, use of these devices by local law-enforcement personnel is limited to the Cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park and the Counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William and towns within them.

S.B. 965 Driver's licenses and special identification cards; requirements for issuance.

Patron: O'Brien

Driver's licenses and special identification cards.  Requires that driver's license applications and driver's licenses include the applicant or licensee's full legal name. The bill also requires that applications for special identification cards issued by DMV include the applicant's full legal name; year, month, and date of birth; social security number; sex; and residence address.

S.B. 966 Provisional driver's licenses.

Patron: O'Brien

Provisional driver's licenses.  Eliminates the provision that makes violation of time-of-day and number of passenger limitations committed by holders of provisional licenses "secondary offenses."

S.B. 972 Special identification cards; allows driver to exchange license without fee.

Patron: O'Brien

Special identification cards.  Allows licensed drivers to exchange their driver's licenses for special identification cards without incurring an additional fee. The bill also brings the fees charged for issuance of special identification cards more into line with those of driver's licenses.

S.B. 977 Driver's licenses; requirements for all first-time applicants.

Patron: O'Brien

Driver's licenses.  Requires all first-time applicants for Virginia driver's licenses to prove that they have successfully completed either a driver education program approved by the State Department of Education or a course offered by a licensed driver training school.

S.B. 980 Improper driving; penalty.

Patron: O'Brien

Improper driving; penalty. Provides that a person may be charged with the offense of improper driving when his conduct is of the kind that constitutes reckless driving but when his degree of culpability is slight. Currently it is only a lesser included offense of reckless driving.

S.B. 985 Highway construction; advance of funds by counties. 

Patron: Watkins

Highway construction; advance of funds by counties.  Allows advancement of county funds for highway construction, with reimbursement by VDOT from identified funding sources pursuant to an agreement between VDOT and the county.

S.B. 993 Special funds for highway improvements in localities.

Patron: Devolites Davis

Special funds for highway improvements in localities.  Expands the present revenue sharing fund program for counties to include cities and towns as well. The annual match limit is raised to $5 million per locality, and the total limit on state funds is raised to $100 million. Up to half of local contributions may take the form of proffers. Since the program now applies to all localities (not just counties), the present section embodying the program is repealed, and the new program is relocated to the article of Chapter 1 of Title 33.1 dealing with overall allocations of highway improvement funds.

S.B. 1016 Overlength trucks; prohibits on certain highways.

Patron: Mims

Overlength trucks on certain highways; penalty.  Provides that any person operating an overlength vehicle on a two-lane highway where passing is permitted is guilty of a misdemeanor and fined a minimum of $250.

S.B. 1048 Water-damaged vehicles; increases amount of damage claim to be disclosed.

Patron: Wagner

Water-damaged vehicles.  Increases from $1,000 to $5,000 the amount of a water damage claim that must have been paid by an insurance company before water damage must be disclosed when ownership of the vehicle is transferred.

S.B. 1060 Motor medics pilot program; created in South Hampton Roads area.

Patron: Lucas

Motor medics pilot program.  Creates a motor medics pilot program in the South Hampton Roads area. The program shall implement the use of motorcycles as a type of emergency medical services vehicle with the objective of reducing response time of emergency medical services personnel to emergencies.

S.B. 1081 Wireless communication devices; use by drivers.

Patron: Ticer

Wireless communication devices; use by drivers. Prohibits drivers' use of hand-held telecommunications devices while their vehicles are in motion, except in an emergency. This prohibition does not extend to devices being operated hands-free. Violations are traffic infractions punishable by fines of $100.

S.B. 1095 Traffic signals; extends sunset on use of photo-monitoring systems

Patron: Stolle

"Photo-red" enforcement of traffic signals; penalty.  Extends the authority to use photo-monitoring systems to enforce traffic light signals, scheduled to expire on July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2006.

S.B. 1114 Motor vehicle dealers.

Patron: Norment

Motor vehicle dealers.  Allows motor vehicle dealers to cancel "spot sales" conditioned on approval of an installment sales contract. It also allows the dealer, if the sale falls through, to return the "equivalent value" of any trade-in or down payment made by the would-be buyer. In addition, the bill allows dealers to delay delivery of the vehicle's title or certificate of origin to the buyer if the sale is conditioned upon approval of purchase money financing. No dealer is to be held liable for fraud, conversion, violation of Title 8.9A (Secured Transactions) or Chapter 17 of Title 59.1 (Virginia Consumer Protection Act), or any other law of the Commonwealth solely by virtue of delivering a motor vehicle to a consumer before purchase money financing is approved. Dealers are also allowed to include in a vehicle buyer's order an express, written waiver of any rights or causes of action that may accrue to the customer as a result of the sale.

S.B. 1198 Commercial vehicle driver's licenses; changes in provisions.

Patron: Williams

Commercial vehicle driver's licenses.  Amends various Virginia Code sections in order to comply with the final rule promulgated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to implement the commercial driver licensing requirements of Section 201(b) of the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999. This act requires stricter licensing and record-keeping procedures and imposes increased sanctions against commercial driver's license holders who operate commercial and noncommercial vehicles in an unsafe manner.

S.B. 1205 Driver's licenses; disposition of surrendered licenses on revocation or suspension.

Patron: Mims

Surrendered driver's licenses. Clarifies when a driver's license is retained by the court, returned to the defendant or submitted to DMV when a defendant is convicted of an offense which requires or permits the revocation or suspension of the license.

S.B. 1210 Speed limits; maximum on Route 17 between Port Royal and Saluda.

Patron: Chichester

Speed limits.  Sets the speed limit on U.S. Route 17 between Port Royal and Saluda at 60 miles per hour.

S.B. 1223 Speed limits; maximum on Routes 29 and 460.

Patron: Newman

Speed limit on U.S. Routes 29 and 460.  Provides that the maximum speed limit will be 60 miles per hour where indicated by lawfully placed signs, erected subsequent to a traffic engineering study, on U.S. Routes 29 and 460 where they are nonlimited access, multilane, divided highways.

S.B. 1229 Speed limits; maximum on U.S. Route 58.

Patron: Ruff

Speed limit on U.S. Route 58.  Provides that the maximum speed limit will be 60 miles per hour where indicated by lawfully placed signs, erected subsequent to a traffic engineering study, on U.S. Route 58 where it is a nonlimited access, multilane, divided highway.