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2023 SESSION
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 46.2-873 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 46.2-873. Maximum speed limits at school crossings; penalty.
A. For the purposes of this section, "school crossing zone" means an area located within the vicinity of a school at or near a highway where the presence of children on such school property or going to and from school reasonably requires a special warning to motorists. Such zones are marked and operated in accordance with the requirements of this section with appropriate warning signs or other traffic control devices indicating that a school crossing is in progress.
B. The maximum speed limit shall be twenty-five 25
miles per hour between portable signs, tilt-over signs, or fixed blinking signs
placed in or along any highway and bearing the word "school" or
"school crossing." Any signs erected under this section shall be
placed not more than 600 750 feet from the limits of the school
property or crossing in the vicinity of the school. However, "school
crossing" signs may be placed in any location if the Department of
Transportation or the council of the city or town or the board of supervisors
of a county maintaining its own system of secondary roads approves the crossing
for such signs. If the portion of the highway to be posted is within the limits
of a city or town, such portable signs shall be furnished and delivered by such
city or town. If the portion of highway to be posted is outside the limits of a
city or town, such portable signs shall be furnished and delivered by the
Department of Transportation. The principal or chief administrative officer of
each school or a school board designee, preferably not a classroom teacher,
shall place such portable signs in the highway at a point not more than 600
750 feet from the limits of the school property and remove such signs when
their presence is no longer required by this section. Such portable signs,
tilt-over signs, or fixed blinking signs shall be placed in a position plainly
visible to vehicular traffic approaching from either direction, but shall not
be placed so as to obstruct the roadway.
C. Such portable signs, tilt-over signs, or blinking signs
shall be in a position, or be turned on, for thirty 30 minutes
preceding regular school hours, for thirty 30 minutes thereafter,
and during such other times as the presence of children on such school property
or going to and from school reasonably requires a special warning to motorists.
The governing body of any county, city, or town may, however, decrease the
period of time preceding and following regular school hours during which such
portable signs, tilt-over signs, or blinking signs shall be in position or lit
if it determines that no children will be going to or from school during the
period of time that it subtracts from the thirty-minute 30-minute
period.
D. The governing body of any city or town may, if the portion of the highway to be posted is within the limits of such city or town, increase or decrease the speed limit provided in this section only after justification for such increase or decrease has been shown by an engineering and traffic investigation, and no such increase or decrease in speed limit shall be effective unless such increased or decreased speed limit is conspicuously posted on the portable signs, tilt-over signs, or fixed blinking signs required by this section.
E. The governing body of a county within Planning District 8 may, if the portion of the highway to be posted is within the limits of such county, increase or decrease the speed limit provided in this section only after justification for such increase or decrease has been shown by an engineering and traffic investigation, and no such increase or decrease in speed limit shall be effective unless such increased or decreased speed limit is conspicuously posted on the portable signs, tilt-over signs, or fixed blinking signs required by this section.
F. The City of Virginia Beach may establish school zones as provided in this section and mark such zones with flashing warning lights as provided in this section on and along all highways adjacent to Route 58.
G. Any person operating any motor vehicle in excess of a
maximum speed limit established specifically for a school crossing zone,
when such school crossing zone is (i) indicated by appropriately placed signs
displaying the maximum speed limit and (ii) in operation pursuant to subsection
B of this section shall be guilty of a traffic infraction punishable by
a fine of not more than $250, in addition to other penalties provided by law.
H. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section,
the maximum speed limit in school zones in residential areas may be decreased
to fifteen 15 miles per hour if (i) the school board having
jurisdiction over the school nearest to the affected school zone passes a
resolution requesting the reduction of the maximum speed limit for such school
zone from twenty-five 25 miles per hour to fifteen 15
miles per hour and (ii) the local governing body of the jurisdiction in which
such school is located enacts an ordinance establishing the speed-limit
reduction requested by the school board.