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2018 SESSION
18105822DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 46.2-859 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 46.2-859. Passing a stopped school bus; prima facie evidence.
A. A person driving a motor vehicle shall stop such
vehicle 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 shall remain stopped until all the persons are clear of the
highway, private road or school driveway and the bus is put in motion; any
person violating the foregoing 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.
B. Any person who violates this section is guilty of reckless driving. Any person who violates this section and causes serious bodily injury, as defined in subsection C of § 18.2-369, to another person is guilty of a Class 5 felony.
2. That the provisions of this act may result in a net increase in periods of imprisonment or commitment. Pursuant to § 30-19.1:4, the estimated amount of the necessary appropriation cannot be determined for periods of imprisonment in state adult correctional facilities; therefore, Chapter 836 of the Acts of Assembly of 2017 requires the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission to assign a minimum fiscal impact of $50,000. Pursuant to § 30-19.1:4, the estimated amount of the necessary appropriation cannot be determined for periods of commitment to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice.