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1996 SESSION
962232749Be 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 who is actually occupying a seat beside the driver.
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. 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 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.