HB 168 (LaRock), which deals with school bus cameras, passed the House Courts of Justice Committee’s Subcommittee on Civil Law yesterday afternoon. The bill provides that a locality that has authorized by ordinance the installation and operation of a video-monitoring system on school buses for recording violations of unlawfully passing a stopped school bus may execute a summons for such violation by mailing a copy of the summons to the owner of a vehicle that unlawfully passed a stopped school bus.
The intent of the legislation is to clarify existing Virginia law to expressly permit the mailing of violations for illegally passing stopped school buses, as recorded by County or City-approved school bus camera video-monitoring systems. Further, the legislative changes proposed in the bill parallels current authority in the Virginia Code (§15.2-968.1) that permits mailing summonses for similar traffic violations, such as the running of a red light and parking violations, etc.
SB 120 (Carrico), which incorporates SB 16 (Favola) and SB 74 (Wexton), is identical legislation to HB 168. It is currently in Senate Courts of Justice Committee yet to be heard.
VACo supports this legislation since it provides for local option. We will continue to provide updates on the status of the bills.
VACo Contact: Beau Blevins