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2011 SESSION
11102063DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 46.2-844 and 46.2-859 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 46.2-844. Passing stopped school buses; penalty; prima facie evidence.
The driver of a motor vehicle approaching from any direction a
clearly marked school bus which is stopped on any highway, private road, or school driveway for the
purpose of taking on or discharging children, the elderly, or mentally or
physically handicapped persons, who, in violation of § 46.2-859,
fails to stop his vehicle at the
school bus, and
remain stopped until all such persons are clear of the highway, private road or
school driveway and the bus is
put in motion, is subject to a civil penalty of $250, and any prosecution shall be
instituted and conducted in the same manner as prosecutions for traffic
infractions.
A prosecution or proceeding under § 46.2-859 is a bar to a prosecution or proceeding under this section for the same act and a prosecution or proceeding under this section is a bar to a prosecution or proceeding under § 46.2-859 for the same act.
In any prosecution for which a summons charging a violation of this section was issued within ten days of the alleged violation, proof that the motor vehicle described in the summons was operated in violation of this section, together with proof that the defendant was at the time of such violation the registered owner of the vehicle, as required by Chapter 6 (§ 46.2-600 et seq.) of this title shall give rise to a rebuttable presumption that the registered owner of the vehicle was the person who operated the vehicle at the place where, and for the time during which, the violation occurred.
The testimony of the school bus driver, the supervisor of school buses or a law-enforcement officer that the vehicle was yellow, conspicuously marked as a school bus, and equipped with warning devices as prescribed in § 46.2-1090 is prima facie evidence that the vehicle is a school bus.
§ 46.2-859. Passing a stopped school bus; prima facie evidence.
A person is guilty
of reckless driving who fails to stop, when approaching from any direction, any
school bus which is stopped on any highway, private road or school driveway for
the purpose of taking on or discharging children, the elderly, or mentally or
physically handicapped persons, and to remain stopped until all the persons are
clear of the highway, private road or school driveway and the bus is put in
motion. The
driver of a motor vehicle who fails to (i)
bring his motor vehicle to a complete stop at a
school bus that is stopped on any highway, private road, or school driveway for the purpose of taking on or discharging children, the
elderly, or mentally or physically handicapped persons and (ii) remain stopped
until all the persons are clear of the highway, private road, or school driveway and the bus is put in motion is guilty of reckless driving. The
driver of a vehicle, however, need not stop when approaching a school bus if
the school bus is stopped on the other roadway of a divided highway, on an
access road, or on a driveway when the other roadway, access road, or driveway
is separated from the roadway on which he is driving by a physical barrier or
an unpaved area. The driver of a vehicle also need not stop when approaching a
school bus which is loading or discharging passengers from or onto property immediately
adjacent to a school if the driver is directed by a law-enforcement officer or
other duly authorized uniformed school crossing guard to pass the school bus.
This section shall apply to school buses which are equipped with warning
devices prescribed in § 46.2-1090 and are painted yellow with the words
"School Bus" in black letters at least eight inches high on the front
and rear thereof. Only school buses which are painted yellow and equipped with
the required lettering and warning devices shall be identified as school buses.
The testimony of the school bus driver, the supervisor of school buses or a law-enforcement officer that the vehicle was yellow, conspicuously marked as a school bus, and equipped with warning devices as prescribed in § 46.2-1090 is prima facie evidence that the vehicle is a school bus.
2. That an emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.