SEARCH SITE
VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL
- Code of Virginia
- Virginia Administrative Code
- Constitution of Virginia
- Charters
- Authorities
- Compacts
- Uncodified Acts
- RIS Users (account required)
SEARCHABLE DATABASES
- Bills & Resolutions
session legislation - Bill Summaries
session summaries - Reports to the General Assembly
House and Senate documents - Legislative Liaisons
State agency contacts
ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
- Summaries: Since 1994
Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
1996 SESSION
967157428Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 46.2-335 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 46.2-335. Learner's permits; fees.
A. The Department, on receiving from any Virginia resident over the age of
fifteen years, an application for a learner's permit may, subject to the
applicant's successful completion of the written or automated knowledge and
vision examinations, issue a permit entitling the applicant, while having the
permit in his immediate possession, to drive a motor vehicle on the highways,
when accompanied by a licensed driver eighteen twenty-one years
of age or older or by his parent [ or , ] legal
guardian [ , or member of his immediate family ] who is (i)
actually occupying a seat beside the driver and (ii) lawfully permitted
to operate a motor vehicle at that time. Such permit shall be valid until
he either is issued a driver's license as provided for in this chapter or no
longer meets the qualifications for issuance of a learner's permit as provided
in this section. For persons qualifying for a driver's license through driver
education courses approved by the Department of Education or courses offered by
commercial driver training schools licensed by the Department, the application
for the learner's permit shall be used as the application for the driver's
license. Driver's licenses shall be issued by the Department to persons
successfully completing driver education courses approved by the Department of
Education when the Department receives from the school proper certification
that the student (i) has successfully completed such course, including a road
skills examination and (ii) is in good academic standing and (iii) upon payment
of a fee of $2.40 per year, based on the period of the license's validity. The
provisions of §§ 46.2-323 and 46.2-334 relating to evidence and
certification of Virginia residence shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to learner's
permits issued under this section. The application for a learner's permit shall
not be granted without evidence of compliance with Article 1 (§ 22.1-254
et seq.) of Chapter 14 of Title 22.1, submitted on a form furnished by the
Board of Education and certified by the division superintendent or any of his
designees, the nonpublic school principal or any of his designees, or the home
schooling parent or tutor, or presentation of a high school diploma or its
equivalent or a certificate indicating completion of a prescribed course of
study as defined by the local school board pursuant to § 22.1-253.13:4.
The Department shall charge a fee of three dollars for each learner's permit
issued under this section, which shall be paid into the driver education fund
of the state treasury. It shall be unlawful for any person, after having
received a learner's permit, to drive a motor vehicle without being accompanied
by a licensed driver [ as provided in the foregoing provisions of this
section ] . Violation of this section shall constitute a Class 2
misdemeanor. Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit the issuance
of a learner's permit entitling a person to drive a commercial motor vehicle,
except as provided by the Virginia Commercial Driver's License Act (§
46.2-341.1 et seq.).
B. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A of this section, the Department shall not issue a learner's permit to any applicant under the age of fifteen years, six months unless the applicant is in good academic standing. For applicants attending public schools, good academic standing may be certified by the public school principal or any of his designees. For applicants attending nonpublic schools, such certification shall be made by the private school principal or any of his designees; for minors receiving home schooling, such certification shall be made by the home schooling parent or tutor.
B. C. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A of this
section, the Department shall not issue a learner's permit with a
classification entitling the permittee to drive motorcycles unless:
1. The person is receiving instructions from a qualified instructor in a course approved by the Department;
2. The person has successfully completed the off-street portion of the course;
3. When the instruction is conducted on the public highways, it follows a prescribed course which has been approved by the chief local law-enforcement official;
4. The persons receiving the instruction, or the motorcycles used in the instruction, are clearly marked "STUDENT DRIVER";
5. The person is under the supervision of his instructor at all times; and
6. No person, except the person receiving the instruction, occupies the motorcycle while instruction is being given.