CHAPTER 449

AN ACT to amend and reenact § 46-212 as to driving in congested
areas; as to speed permitted when towing another vehicle
without a driver; as to speed of certain trucks or tractor
trucks with trailers or semitrailers attached; as to certain
vehicles passing other vehicles on hills; to add a new section
numbered 46-219.1 forbidding installation of a television set
forward of the driver’s seat in an automobile operated in this
State; to fix the penalty for violation; and to repeal §§ 46-213
and 46-214 as to maximum speed in a city of over 170,000, and
as to maximum speed along certain sections of highways.

Approved April 7, 1950

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 46-209 and 46-212 of the Code of 1950 be amended and
reenacted and that a section be added to the Code of 1950 numbered
§ 46-219.1 as follows:

§ 46-209. Same; Specific Instances.—A person shall be guilty
of reckless driving who shall:

(1) Drive a vehicle when not under proper control or with
inadequate or improperly adjusted brakes upon any highway of
this State;

(2) While driving a vehicle, overtake and pass another vehicle
proceeding in the same direction, upon or approaching the crest of
a grade or upon or approaching a curve in the ‘highway, where
the driver’s view along the highway is obstructed;

(3) Pass or attempt to pass two other vehicles abreast, moving
in the same direction ;

(4) Overtake or pass any other vehicle proceeding in the same
direction at any steam or electric railway grade crossing or at any
intersection of highways or while pedestrians are passing or about
to pass in front of either of such vehicles, unless permitted so to do
by a traffic light or police officer;

(5) Fail to stop at a school bus while taking on or discharging
school children, whether going in the same or the opposite direction
and to remain stopped until all school children are clear of the
highway.

(6) Fail to give adequate and timely signals of intention to
turn, partly turn, slow down or stop, as required by §§ 46-233 to
46-237 ;

(7) Exceed a reasonable speed under the circumstances and
traffic conditions existing at the time; or

(8) Fail to bring his vehicle to a stop immediately before
entering a highway from a side road when there is traffic approach-
ing upon such highway within five hundred feet of such point of
entrance.

§ 46-212. Speed Limits and other Driving Regulations. —Any
person who shall:

(1) Drive any vehicle upon a highway in this State at such
speed as unnecessarily to block, hinder or retard the orderly and
safe use of the highway or so as to cause congestion on the highway;

(2) Drive upon any highway in this State any motor vehicle at
a speed in excess of:

(a) Fifteen miles an hour when passing a school during recess
or while children are going to or leaving school, provided that
markers be placed on the highways so as to indicate the location
of such school;

(b) * Twenty-five miles an hour in a business district ;

(c) Twenty-five miles an hour in a residential district; or

(d) Such speed as may be determined as follows: (1) The State
Highway Commission on all highways maintained by the State
Highway Department or the authorities of cities and towns on all
highways maintained by them may increase or decrease the speed
in business districts and residential districts, provided such areas
or points are clearly indicated by markers or signs and such speed
shall be based upon an engineering and traffic investigation, or
(ii) such speed as shall be fixed by the State Highway Commission
on all highways maintained by the State Highway Department or
the authorities of cities and towns on all highways maintained
by them for congested areas or curves, right angle turns or other
dangerous points on the highways, when such areas or points are
clearly indicated by markers or signs and such speed shall be based
upon an engineering and traffic investigation;

(e) Forty miles per hour when towing a motor vehicle which
is self-propelled or designed for self-propulsion in which there 1s
no driver.

(3) Drive anywhere else upon'a highway in this State any
school bus carrying school children to or from school at a speed in
excess of thirty-five miles per hour, or any other passenger carrying
bus at a speed in excess of fifty miles per hour, or any passenger
motor vehicle or motorcycle at a speed in excess of fifty miles per
hour, or any other motor vehicle, including trucks, at a speed in
excess of fifty miles per hour; provided that on dual lane highways
having four or more lanes any passenger carrying bus, passenger
motor vehicle or motorcycle may be driven at a speed of not exceed-
ing fifty-five miles per hour unless the State Highway Commission
prescribes a lower rate of speed ;

(4) Drive to the left of the center of a street except upon
one-way streets ;

(5) Violate any provision of the right of way laws, as set forth
in §§ 46-238 to 46-240 and 46-244;
(6) Drive a vehicle out of an alley, lane or building into a
street without first bringing such vehicle to a stop immediately
before entering such street ;

- (7) Make a left turn without passing to the right of the center
of the intersection, whether marked or not;

(8) Make a right turn without keeping close to the curb;

(9) Coast or operate a motor vehicle with the gears in neutral ;

(10) While operating a vehicle upon any highway, fail or
refuse to control the lights of such vehicle by shifting, depressing,
tilting or dimming the headlight beams thereof so as not to project
into the eyes of the driver of any oncoming vehicle a glaring or
dazzling light; or

(11) Drive any motor vehicle in any county having a population
of more than six hundred inhabitants per square mile, or in any
section or zone of such county, at any speed greater than the
applicable maximum speed or speeds prescribed therefor pursuant
to the provisions of § 46-205 by the governing board of such county;

(12) Pass or attempt to pass on an upgrade hill in such
manner as to impede the passage of following traffic, while operat-
ing a truck or tractor and trailer, any truck or tractor and trailer
going in the same direction;

Shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be
punished in accordance with the provisions of § 46-18.

§ 46-219.1. Automobiles not to be equipped with televiston
within view of operator of vchicle—No automobile operated tn the
Ntate of Virginia shall be equipped with television receivers for-
ward of the driver’s seat or which would otherwise be visible to the
driver while operating the vehicle. This larc shall apply to all
residents of Virginia and as to nonresidents, they shall be required
to disconnect any television receiver which violates the foregoing
provisions while driving through or within the State. Any person
violating this law shall be guilty of misdemeanor.

2. That Sections 46-213 and 46-214 are repealed.