                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

PASSING STOPPED SCHOOL BUSES; PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE; PENALTY (§ 46.2-844)

A. The driver of a motor vehicle approaching from any direction a clearly marked
school bus that is stopped on any highway, private road, or school driveway for
the purpose of taking on or discharging children, elderly individuals, or
individuals with mental or physical disabilities, who, in violation of &#xA7;
46.2-859, fails to stop and remain stopped until all such individuals are clear
of the highway, private road, or school driveway and the bus is put in motion is
subject to a civil penalty of $250, and any prosecution shall be instituted and
conducted in the same manner as prosecutions for traffic infractions.
			A prosecution or proceeding under &#xA7; 46.2-859 is a bar to a prosecution
or proceeding under this section for the same act, and a prosecution or
proceeding under this section is a bar to a prosecution or proceeding under
&#xA7; 46.2-859 for the same act.
			In any prosecution for which a summons charging a violation of this section
was issued within 30 business days of the alleged violation, proof that the
motor vehicle described in the summons was operated in violation of this
section, together with proof that the defendant was at the time of such
violation the registered owner of the vehicle, as required by Chapter 6 (&#xA7;
46.2-600 et seq.) shall give rise to a rebuttable presumption that the
registered owner of the vehicle was the person who operated the vehicle at the
place where, and for the time during which, the violation occurred. Such
presumption shall be rebutted if (i) the owner of the vehicle files an affidavit
by regular mail with the clerk of the general district court that he was not the
operator of the vehicle at the time of the alleged violation, (ii) the owner
testifies in open court under oath that he was not the operator of the vehicle
at the time of the alleged violation, or (iii) a certified copy of a police
report showing that the vehicle had been reported to the police as stolen prior
to the time of the alleged violation of this section is presented prior to the
return date established on the summons issued pursuant to this section to the
court adjudicating the alleged violation. Nothing herein shall limit the
admission of otherwise admissible evidence.
			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 &#xA7; 46.2-1090
is prima facie evidence that the vehicle is a school bus.
			Recorded images from a video-monitoring system that show the bus was stopped
with at least one warning device prescribed in &#xA7; 46.2-1090 activated shall
be considered prima facie evidence that the bus was stopped for the purpose of
taking on or discharging children, elderly individuals, or individuals with
mental or physical disabilities.

B. 1. For purposes of this section, &#8220;video-monitoring system&#8221; means
a system with one or more camera sensors and computers installed and operated on
a school bus that produces live digital and recorded video of motor vehicles
being operated in violation of § 46.2-859. All such systems installed shall, at
a minimum, produce a recorded image of the license plate and shall record the
activation status of at least one warning device as prescribed in § 46.2-1090
and the time, date, and location of the vehicle when the image is recorded.

   2. A locality may, by ordinance, authorize the school division of the locality
   to install and operate a video-monitoring system in or on the school buses
   operated by the division or to contract with a private vendor to do so on
   behalf of the school division for the purpose of recording violations of
   subsection A. Such ordinance may direct that any civil penalty levied for a
   violation of subsection A shall be payable to the local school division. In
   any locality that has adopted such an ordinance, a summons for a violation of
   subsection A may be executed as provided in &#xA7; 19.2-76.2 and,
   notwithstanding the provisions of &#xA7; 19.2-76, the summons may be executed
   by mailing by first-class mail a copy thereof to the address of the owner of
   the vehicle contained in the records of the Department. Every such mailing
   shall include, in addition to the summons, a notice of (i) the summoned
   person&#8217;s ability to rebut the presumption that he was the operator of
   the vehicle at the time of the alleged violation through the filing of an
   affidavit as provided in subsection A and (ii) instructions for filing such an
   affidavit, including the address to which the affidavit is to be sent. If the
   summoned person fails to appear on the date of return set out in the summons
   mailed pursuant to this section, the summons shall be executed in the manner
   set out in &#xA7; 19.2-76.3. No proceedings for contempt or arrest of a person
   summoned by mailing shall be instituted for failure to appear on the return
   date of the summons. Any summons executed for violation of this section shall
   provide to the person summoned at least 30 business days from the mailing of
   the summons to inspect information collected by a video-monitoring system in
   connection with the violation.

   3. Any private vendor contracting with a school division pursuant to this
   subsection may impose and collect an administrative fee in addition to the
   civil penalty imposed for a violation of subsection A and payable pursuant to
   this subsection, so as to recover the expenses of collecting any unpaid civil
   penalty when such penalty remains due more than 30 days after the date of the
   mailing of the summons and notice. The administrative fee shall be reasonably
   related to the actual cost of collecting the civil penalty and shall not
   exceed $100 per violation. The operator of the vehicle shall pay the unpaid
   civil penalty and any administrative fee detailed in a notice or citation
   issued by the private vendor. If paid no later than 60 days after the date of
   the mailing of the summons and notice, the administrative fee shall not exceed
   $25. No contract entered into pursuant to this subsection shall require a
   minimum quota of violations captured or citations issued in order for the
   video-monitoring system to be deployed.

   4. Any private vendor contracting with a school division pursuant to this
   subsection may enter into an agreement with the Department of Motor Vehicles,
   in accordance with the provisions of subdivision B 30 of &#xA7; 46.2-208, to
   obtain vehicle owner information regarding the registered owners of vehicles
   that improperly pass stopped school buses. Information provided to such
   private vendor shall be protected in a database with security comparable to
   that of the Department of Motor Vehicles&#8217; system and used only for
   enforcement against individuals who violate the provisions of this section.
   The school division shall annually certify compliance with this subdivision
   and make all records pertaining to such system available for inspection and
   audit by the Commissioner of Highways or the Commissioner of the Department of
   Motor Vehicles or their designee. Any person who discloses personal
   information in violation of the provisions of this subdivision shall be
   subject to a civil penalty of $1,000 per disclosure. Any unauthorized use or
   disclosure of such personal information shall be grounds for termination of
   the agreement between the Department of Motor Vehicles and the private vendor.

HISTORY: 1985, c. 511, § 46.1-212.1; 1987, c. 106; 1989, c. 727; 1997, cc. 622,
800, 908; 2001, c. 126; 2002, c. 541; 2011, cc. 787, 838; 2016, cc. 637, 700;
2019, cc. 543, 544; 2020, c. 783; 2023, cc. 148, 149, 382, 401, 402; 2024, c.
221.