                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

PASSING A STOPPED SCHOOL BUS; PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE (§ 46.2-859)

A person driving a motor vehicle shall stop such vehicle when approaching, from
any direction, any school bus which 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, and shall
remain stopped until all the individuals are clear of the highway, private road
or school driveway and the bus is put in motion; any individual violating the
foregoing is guilty of reckless driving. 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 &#8220;School Bus&#8221; 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.
		Evidence that the bus was stopped with at least one warning device prescribed
in § 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.

HISTORY: Code 1950, §§ 46-209, 46-209.1; 1950, p. 880; 1952, c. 671; 1954, cc.
225, 401, 458; 1958, c. 541, § 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.