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.
1998 SESSION
988769310Be 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.
A. A person shall be guilty of reckless driving who fails to stop,
when approaching from any direction, [ for ] any school bus
which that is stopped on any highway 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 such persons
are clear of the highway or school driveway and the bus is put in motion. The
driver of a vehicle, however, need not stop when approaching a school bus if
such school bus is stopped on the other roadway of a divided highway, on an
access road, or on a driveway when such 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 that is loading or discharging
passengers from or onto property immediately adjacent to a school if such
driver is directed by a law-enforcement officer or other duly authorized
uniformed school crossing guard to pass such 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.
B. In any prosecution under this section, an affidavit may be filed with the clerk seven days in advance of trial by a local public school board or the governing body of a private school attesting that the school bus, for which the defendant is alleged to have failed to stop in violation of this section, was, at the time of the alleged offense, painted and equipped as provided in the definition of "school bus" in § 46.2-100. Such affidavit shall create a rebuttable presumption that the school bus referred to therein was so painted and equipped. The defendant may produce evidence to refute the evidence contained in the affidavit.