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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 27, 2005
Time and Place: 2 pm/Senate Room B

S.B. 764 Residue parcels of land; Transportation Commissioner to offer parcels to local governing bodies.

Patron: Locke

Residue parcels of land.  Requires the Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner to offer residue parcels to the local governing body of the locality wherein the parcels are located before otherwise disposing of them.

S.B. 775 Companion animals; penalty for abandoning within highway right-of-way.

Patron: Potts

Abandoning companion animal within highway right-of-way; penalty.  Provides a penalty of up to 12 months in jail and a fine of not less than $250 or more than $2,500, either or both, for persons who abandon, dispose of, or dump a companion animal within a highway right-of-way.

S.B. 812 Residue parcels of land; Transportation Commissioner to offer parcels to local governing bodies.

Patron: Williams

Residue parcels of land.  Requires the Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner to offer residue parcels to the local governing body of the locality wherein the parcels are located before otherwise disposing of them.

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. 835 Insured motor vehicle; definition.

Patron: Quayle

Motor vehicle insurance.  Provides that if a motor vehicle is an insured motor vehicle for only part of the year, it will, nevertheless, be deemed an "insured motor vehicle" and the owner will not be required to pay the fee for registration of an uninsured motor vehicle provided it is not operated on the public highway while uninsured.

S.B. 901 Safety belts; required usage, prohibits search due to violation.

Patron: Norment

Motor vehicle safety belts.  Makes safety belt violations primary offenses. The bill also provides that a law-enforcement officer may not search or inspect a motor vehicle, its contents, the driver, or a passenger solely because of a safety belt violation, unless supported by probable cause or consent.

S.B. 911 Motor vehicle dealers; towing, recovery, & storage operators need not be licensed as dealers.

Patron: Norment

Motor vehicle dealers.  Provides that towing, recovery, and storage business operators need not be licensed as motor vehicle dealers if they sell unclaimed vehicles to the public.

S.B. 967 DMV; assessment of additonal fees on certain drivers.

Patron: O'Brien

Assessment of fees by Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) on certain drivers; use of fees collected.  Requires the DMV Commissioner to impose and collect fees on drivers who have accumulated more than six net driver demerit points or have been convicted of reckless driving, aggressive driving, driving on a suspended or revoked license, DUI, or any other misdemeanor involving operation of a motor vehicle. These fees, minus cost of collection, will be used to support issuance of bonds whose proceeds are to be used in the highway construction district wherein the offenses leading to the imposition of the fees were committed for transportation construction, reconstruction, maintenance, maintenance replacement, and/or improvement projects.

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. 985 Highway construction; advance of funds by counties, reimbursement by VDOT when become available.

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. 997 Hazardous materials; prohibits transporting on Route 674 in Fairfax County.

Patron: Devolites Davis

Prohibition on transportation of hazardous materials; penalty.  Bans transportation of hazardous materials on VA Rte. 674 in Fairfax County between VA Rte. 123 and VA Rte. 606.

S.B. 1004 Traffic signals; use of photo-monitoring systems in any locality.

Patron: Devolites Davis

Photo-monitoring systems to enforce traffic light signals.  Expands photo-monitoring systems for traffic signal enforcement to all of Virginia instead of specified localities. Several additional provisions specify where, when, and how these systems are to be used.

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. 1234 Transfer of vehicle title by operation of law; emergency.

Patron: Houck

Transfer of vehicle title by operation of law; emergency.  Provides that DMV will issue a new title upon presentation of a title from another state and a form prescribed by the Commissioner attesting to the lawful repossession of the vehicle and the intent to offer the vehicle for sale in the Commonwealth. DMV will then request the other state to cancel its title.

EMERGENCY

S.B. 1261 Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Commission; provisions for members.

Patron: Rerras

Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Commission. Provides that a member performing "extraordinary duties" may receive compensation for those duties. This provision expires January 1, 2006 and contains an emergency clause.

EMERGENCY

S.B. 1264 High-occupancy vehicle lanes; extends use by vehicles bearing clean special fuel license plates.

Patron: O'Brien

HOV lanes.  Extends the ability of vehicles bearing clean fuel vehicle license plates to use HOV facilities, regardless of the number of their passengers, for two more years.

S.B. 1315 Release of security interest in motor vehicle certificate of title; penalty. 

Patron: Colgan

Release of security interest in motor vehicle certificate of title; penalty.  Requires a secured party that fails to mark satisfied and surrender a certificate of title within 15 days after its security interest is satisfied to forfeit $500 to the owner. If the $500 is not paid within 10 business days after demand in writing, the secured party is required to pay the owner's court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees. The failure to release a security interest within 10 days is currently punishable as a Class 3 misdemeanor.

S.B. 1319 PPTA; VDOT to suspend negotiations with entities involving I-81 improvements.

Patron: Hanger

PPTA; I-81 improvements.  Requires VDOT to forthwith suspend negotiations under the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 (PPTA) involving improvements to I-81. No such negotiations are to resume until VDOT is authorized to do so by an act of the General Assembly.

EMERGENCY