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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>54383</law_id><section_number>46.2-859</section_number><catch_line>Passing a stopped school bus; prima facie evidence</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>46.2-1090</reference><reference>46.2-1090.1</reference><reference>46.2-844</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="46.2">Motor Vehicles</unit><unit label="subtitle" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="III">Operation</unit><unit label="chapter" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="8">Regulation of Traffic</unit><unit label="article" level="4" order_by="1" identifier="7">Reckless Driving and Improper Driving</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>A person driving a <span class="dictionary">motor vehicle</span> shall stop such vehicle when approaching, from any direction, any <span class="dictionary">school bus</span> which is stopped on any <span class="dictionary">highway</span>, private road or school driveway for the purpose of taking on or discharging children, elderly individuals, or individuals with mental or physical disabilities, and shall remain stopped until all the individuals are clear of the <span class="dictionary">highway</span>, private road or school driveway and the bus is put in <span class="dictionary">motion</span>; any individual violating the foregoing is guilty of <span class="dictionary">reckless driving</span>. The <span class="dictionary">driver</span> of a vehicle, however, need not stop when approaching a <span class="dictionary">school bus</span> if the <span class="dictionary">school bus</span> is stopped on the other <span class="dictionary">roadway</span> of a divided <span class="dictionary">highway</span>, on an access road, or on a driveway when the other <span class="dictionary">roadway</span>, access road, or driveway is separated from the <span class="dictionary">roadway</span> on which he is driving by a physical barrier or an unpaved area. The <span class="dictionary">driver</span> of a vehicle also need not stop when approaching a <span class="dictionary">school bus</span> which is loading or discharging passengers from or onto property immediately adjacent to a school if the <span class="dictionary">driver</span> is directed by a <span class="dictionary"><span class="dictionary">law</span>-enforcement officer</span> or other duly authorized uniformed school crossing guard to pass the <span class="dictionary">school bus</span>. This section shall apply to school buses which are equipped with warning devices prescribed in &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Warning devices on school buses; other buses; use thereof; penalties" href="/46.2-1090/">46.2-1090</a> and are painted yellow with the words &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">School Bus</span>&#x201D; 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 <span class="dictionary">testimony</span> of the <span class="dictionary">school bus</span> <span class="dictionary">driver</span>, the supervisor of school buses or a <span class="dictionary"><span class="dictionary">law</span>-enforcement officer</span> that the vehicle was yellow, conspicuously marked as a <span class="dictionary">school bus</span>, and equipped with warning devices as prescribed in &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Warning devices on school buses; other buses; use thereof; penalties" href="/46.2-1090/">46.2-1090</a> is prima facie <span class="dictionary">evidence</span> that the vehicle is a <span class="dictionary">school bus</span>.
		<span class="dictionary">Evidence</span> that the bus was stopped with at least one warning device prescribed in &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Warning devices on school buses; other buses; use thereof; penalties" href="/46.2-1090/">46.2-1090</a> activated shall be considered prima facie <span class="dictionary">evidence</span> that the bus was stopped for the purpose of taking on or discharging children, elderly individuals, or individuals with mental or physical disabilities.</p></section></text><history>Code 1950, &#xA7;&#xA7; 46-209, 46-209.1; 1950, p. 880; 1952, c. 671; 1954, cc. 225, 401, 458; 1958, c. 541, &#xA7; 46.1-190; 1960, c. 510; 1964, c. 266; 1966, c. 694; 1968, c. 575; 1970, c. 521; 1974, cc. 222, 455; 1975, c. 633; 1978, c. 27; 1979, c. 86; 1981, cc. 333, 585; 1985, c. 148; 1989, c. 727; 2001, c. 126; 2002, c. 541; 2011, cc. 325, 326; 2023, cc. 148, 149, 382.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
