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2011 SESSION
11104539DBe 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 person The driver of a motor vehicle is guilty
of reckless driving who fails to stop, when approaching from any direction, at
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 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.