Chap. 430.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections (d) and (t) of the defini-
tion clause defining the term “tractor truck” and “highway,” and to amend
and re-enact sections three, eighteen, nineteen and one-half, twenty, as
amended, twenty-nine, as amended, and thirty-two, of chapter one hundred and
forty-nine of the acts of the general assembly of Virginia, session of nine-
teen hundred and twenty-six, approved March seventeenth, nineteen hundred
and twenty-six, relating to the office of the director of the division of motor
vehicles, and his assistants, their powers and duties, and to the licensing
and registration of motor vehicles. [H B 324]

Approved March 26, 1930

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sec-
tions (d) and (t) of the definition clause, defining the terms “tractor
trucks” and “highway,” and that sections three, eighteen, nineteen and
one-half, twenty, as amended, twenty-nine, as amended, and thirty-two,
of chapter one hundred and forty-nine of the acts of the general as-
sembly of Virginia, session of nineteen hundred and twenty-six, ap-
proved March seventeenth, nineteen hundred and twenty-six, be amend-
ed and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

(d) “Tractor truck.’—Every motor vehicle designed and used
primarily for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as to
carry a load other than a part of the load and weight of the vehicle
attached thereto.

(t) “Highway.”’—Every way or place of whatever nature open to
the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel in this State,
including the streets and alleys in incorporated towns and cities.

Section 3. (a) The director of the division of motor vehicles
shall maintain his principal office in the city of Richmond, and shall
maintain branch offices in such other places in the State as he shall
deem necessary properly to carry out the provisions of this act and
all other motor vehicle laws.

(b) The director of the division of motor vehicles and his assist-
ants severally are hereby vested with the powers of a sheriff for the
purpose of enforcing all the criminal laws of this State, and it shall be
the duty of such officer and his assistants to use their best efforts to
enforce the same; but nothing in this section shall be construed as
relieving any sheriff, constable, commissioner of the revenue or police
officer from the duty of aiding and assisting in the enforcement of such
laws.

(c) All moneys accruing to the department under this act shall
be paid into the State treasury in full, and all expenses incident to
the maintenance of the department and the proper enforcement of this
act shall be paid by the State treasurer upon receipt of the proper
authorization by the director of the division of motor vehicles.

(d) The treasurer of each county, except the counties of Henrico
and Chesterfield, or a county wherein there is a branch office of the
division of motor vehicles, shall act as the agent of the director in
receiving applications for the registration of titles of motor vehicles,
the issuance of number or license plates for vehicles, in the issuance
of chauffeurs’ licenses.

(e) Each such agent shall be bonded in a satisfactory amount and
shall remit to the director at the close of each week all monies col-
lected hereunder, together with a complete record of what such re-
mittance is intended to cover. Each agent or treasurer shall be paid
for the sale of each set of number plates, not exceeding the sum of
twenty-five cents, and for each chauffeur’s license issued not exceeding
the sum of ten cents, which sum shall be paid by the director out of the
receipts received from the issuance of licenses. The persons paying the
license shall pay no premium for such service.

(f) If his office be not salaried, the compensation above pro-
vided shall belong to the treasurer for his services under this section,
but from such compensation he shall pay all freight, cartage and
postage, and any extra clerk hire or other office expense occasioned
by such duties. In any county in which such office is a salaried one,
such compensation shall belong to the treasury of the county or city,
and the county or city shall pay such charges, including freight, cart-
age, postage and extra clerk hire occasioned by such duties.

(g) Within twelve months next following the date that this act
shall become effective the director may establish branch offices in each
city within the State with a population of one hundred and fifty thou-
sand or more, and in each county where the county shall have a popu-
lation one hundred and fifty thousand or more, inclusive of the
incorporated towns and cities, and in such other places as he may deem
proper and necessary and wherein an applicant for the operation of such
branch shall be satisfactory to the director.

And when such branch offices are established a deputy director
of motor vehicle division shall be placed in charge thereof, who shall
be properly bonded, and whose sole and only compensation for his
services and for the expenses incident to the maintenance of the
branch office shall be the amount of fees authorized under this sec-
tion to be paid to county or city treasurers.

Séction 18. (a) A manufacturer of or dealer in motor vehicle
trailers or semi-trailers, owning and operating any such vehicles upon
any highway in lieu of registering each such vehicle, may obtain from
the department, upon application therefor, upon the proper official
form and payment of the fees required by law and attach to each such
vehicle one or duplicate license plates, as required for different classes
of vehicles by section fourteen (a), which plate or set of plates shall
each bear thereon a distinctive number, also the name of this State,
which may be abbreviated, and the year for which issued, together
with the word “dealer” or a distinguishing symbol indicating that such
plate or plates are issued to a manufacturer or dealer, and any plates
so issued may, during the calendar year for which issued, be trans-
ferred from one such vehicle to another owned or operated by such
manufacturer or dealer who shall keep a written record of the ve-
hicles upon which such dealers’ number plates are used, which record
shall be open to inspection by any police officer or any officer. or em-
ployee of the department. ,

(b) Every manufacturer of or dealer in motor vehicles, trailers
or semi-trailers, shall obtain and have in possession a certificate of
title issued by the department to such manufacturer or dealer, or to the
immediate vendor of such manufacturer or dealer for each motor
vehicle, trailer and semi-trailer owned and operated upon the highways
by such manufacturer or dealer, except that a certificate of title shall
not be required for any new vehicle to be sold as such by a manufac-
turer or dealer.

(c) No manufacturer of or dealer in motor vehicles, trailers or
semi-trailers shall cause or permit any such vehicle owned by such
person to be operated or moved upon a public highway without there
being displayed upon such vehicle a number plate or plates issued to
such person, either under section fourteen or under this section except
as otherwise authorized in sub-division (d) or (e) of this section.

(d) Any manufacturer of motor vehicles, trailers or semi-trailers
may operate or move or cause to be moved or operated upon the high-
ways for a distance of not exceeding twenty-five miles any such
vehicles from the factory where manufactured to a railway depot,
vessel or place of shipment or delivery, without registering the same
and without number plates attached thereto under a written permit
first obtained from the local police authorities having jurisdiction over
such highways and upon displaying in plain sight upon each such ve-
hicle a placard bearing the name and address of the manufacturer
authorizing or directing such movement.

(e) Any dealer in motor vehicles, trailers or semi-trailers may
operate or move, or cause to be operated or moved, any such vehicle
upon the highways for a distance of not exceeding twenty-five miles
from a vessel, railway depot, warehouse or any place of shipment to a
sales room, warehouse or place of shipment, or trans-shipment with-
out registering such vehicle and without number plates attached thereto,
under a written permit first obtained from the local police authorities
having jurisdiction over such highways and upon displaying in plain
sight upon each such vehicle a placard bearing the name and address
of the dealer authorizing or directing such movement.

Section 1914. Any person other than the owner of a motor ve-
hicle or a member of his family, which has been registered and licensed
to be operated in this State, whose principal duty or occupation re-
quires him to drive a motor vehicle, and any person, other than the
owner, who drives a motor vehicle while in use as a public or common
carrier of persons or property before he shall operate a motor vehicle in
this State shall first take out a chauffeur’s license; provided,
however, that persons commonly called traveling salesmen who solicit
patronage upon a display of samples or catalog, and who do not make
deliveries of goods sold, and who do not own the cars driven by them,
shall not be required to obtain such license. The applicant shall make
application to the director of the division of motor vehicles, which
application shall give the name of the applicant, his residence, post-
office address, age and experience in operating machines, and_ shall
be sworn to before some officer authorized to administer oaths. There
shall be appended to such application a statement by two reputable
citizens, that the applicant is a fit person and is competent to operate a
machine.

On the payment of five dollars, the director of the division of motor
vehicles shall issue to such applicant a license and badge, which li-
cense and badge shall be carried by the chauffeur at all times while
operating a machine, the badge to be plainly in evidence upon the lapel
of the chauffeur’s coat or on the front part of the chauffeur’s cap.
The ‘form of license shall be prescribed by the director of the division
of motor vehicles.

Section 20. (a) A non-resident owner, except as otherwise pro-
vided in this section, owning any foreign vehicle which has been duly
registered for the current calendar year in the State, county or other
place of which the owner is a resident and which at all times when
operated in this State has displayed upon it the number plate or plates
issued for such vehicle in the place of residence of such owner, may
operate or permit the operation of such vehicle within this State with-
out registering such vehicle or paying any fees to this State for a
period of six months, but if at the expiration of six months such owner
is still in this State he shall procure registration and license, and shall
pay for such license from the time he first began to operate in this
State.

(b) A non-resident owner of a foreign vehicle operated within
this State for the transportation of persons or property for compen-
sation, either regularly according to a schedule or for a consecutive
period exceeding thirty days, shall register such vehicle and pay the
same fees therefor as is required with reference to like vehicles owned
by residents of this State.

There being an emergency, in order that the clause of section
twenty, which is hereby repealed, namely, clause (c), should forth-
with become inoperative, this act shall be in force from its passage.

(c) Every non-resident, including any foreign corporation car-
rying on business within this State, and owning and regularly operating
in such business any motor vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer within this
State, shall be required to register each such vehicle and pay the same
fees therefor as is required with reference to like vehicles owned by
residents of this State. Provided, however, the governor of this State,
by written direction to the director of the division of motor vehicles,
may suspend in whole or in part the operation of this clause in order
to bring about a fair and reciprocal arrangement relating to motor
vehicle traffic with the State contiguous to Virginia and with the
District of Columbia.

Section 29. There shall be paid to the department for the regis-
tration of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, fees according to
the following schedule: :

(a) The fee for certificate of title shall be one ($1.00) dollar.

(b) The fee for the certificate of registration and license plates
to be paid by the owner of the machine shall be seventy cents per
hundred pounds of weight or major fraction thereof. Manufacturers’
shipping weight shall be used in determining the license fees herein
prescribed. All motor vehicles designed and used for the transpor-
tation of passengers shall be licensed according to weight; provided,
that no fee for an automobile shall be less than twelve and one-fourth
($12.25) dollars per year, and no fee for motorcycle shall be less than
five ($5.00) dollars per year and two ($2.00) dollars additional for
side car attached; provided, that the owner of any such vehicle used
and operated exclusively on the streets of any city, for the transporta-
tion of passengers for compensation, who in no case charges a passenger
fare of more than five cents per person for a continuous trip within
said city, and who pays to the city within which said vehicles are
operated a license tax or franchise tax or permit charge, amounting
in the aggregate to as much as three per centum of the gross receipts
derived from the operation of said vehicle, shall pay the minimum fee
of twelve and one-fourth ($12.25) dollars for the certificate of regis-
tration and license plates for each vehicle so operated under said city
license, franchise or permit.

(c) The fee for a truck, or trucks, or trucks or bus owned by other
than the school board used to transport school children, shall be based on
the capacity of such truck or trailer and shall be as follows: One ton
or less capacity, fifteen ($15.00) dollars; one and one-half ton capacity,
twenty ($20.00) dollars; two ton capacity, thirty ($30.00) dollars;
two and one-half ton capacity, forty ($40.00) dollars; three ton capacity,
sixty ($60.00) dollars; three and one-half ton capacity, eighty ($80.00)
dollars; four ton capacity, one hundred and ten ($110.00) dollars;
four and one-half ton capacity, one hundred and fifty ($150.00) dol-
lars; five ton capacity, two hundred ($200.00) dollars. Tractors with
trailers used on the public roads shall be classed as trucks and shall
pay the same fees on tonnage of the trailers, and the fee for the
trailers shall be ten ($10.00) dollars for the first ton capacity and three
($3.00) dollars additional for each half ton or fraction thereof in ex-
cess of one ton. License for hearse bearing “C’ plate shall be fifteen
dollars ($15.00).

(d) Three-quarters of the license fee herein required to be paid
by the owner of a machine shall be collected whenever such license is
issued on or after the first day of April in any year.

One-half of the license fee herein required to be paid by the owner
of a machine shall be collected whenever such license is issued on or
after the first day of July in any year.

One-quarter of the license fee herein required to be paid by the
owner of a machine shall be collected whenever such license is issued
on or after the first day of October in any year.

These fees shall be paid to the motor vehicle commissioner, who
shall issue certificates of registration and license and number plate,
as provided for in this act.

Incorporated towns and cities may levy and assess taxes and charge
license fees and taxes upon vehicles, as heretofore, such license fees
and taxes to be charged, imposed and assessed in such manner, on such
basis, and for such period, as the proper authorities of such incor-
porated towns and cities may determine, and subject to proration for
fractional periods in the same manner as prescribed in paragraph (b)
hereof.

Every manufacturer, agent or dealer in machines, on or before the
first day of January in each year, or before he commences to operate
machines to be sold by him, shall make application to the motor ve-
hicle commissioner for a dealer’s certificate of registration and license.
The application shall state the make of the machines handled by the
manufacturer, agent or dealer. On the payment of the fee of fifty
dollars a certificate of registration and license shall be issued to the
dealer in such form as may be prescribed by the commissioner. For
such fee the commissioner shall issue to such dealer three sets of
number plates, and for each additional set in excess of three a fee of
fifteen dollars per set shall be paid; provided the fee for a motorcycle
dealer shall be twenty-five dollars for the first three sets of plates and
seven dollars for each additional set of plates, but if application
of such manufacturer, agent, or dealer in machines, as herein pro-
vided, be made after the first day of July of any year, then the amount
or amounts he shall be required to pay for the certificate of registra-
tion and license provided for hereunder shall be half, only, of the
fee herein prescribed.

It shall be unlawful for any such manufacturer, dealer, agent, or
any other person to use such number plates other than on machines
used for sales purposes, and any violation of this section shall be pun-
ished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars, and not more than
one hundred dollars.

(f) In addition to the fees hereinbefore provided for in sub-
section (c) of this section, for the operation of each vehicle operated
as a property carrier where the owner or operator of such vehicle
holds himself out for employment, only for the transportation of
specific loads or commodities for one person or firm on a single trip,
to or from the city, town or location from which said carrier operates
to such other cities, towns, or locations, over any highway of the
State, or between cities and towns thereof, but who will not operate
upon a regular schedule, nor solicit nor receive patronage along the
route, or between the cities, towns, or locations served by a class C
carrier, one ton truck, ten ($10.00) dollars; one and one-half ton
truck, fifteen ($15.00) dollars; two ton truck, twenty ($20.00) dol-
lars; two and one-half ton truck, thirty-five ($35.00) dollars; three
ton truck, forty ($40.00) dollars; three and one-half ton truck, fitty-
five ($55.00) dollars; four ton truck, seventy-five ($75.00) dollars ;
four and one-half ton truck, one hundred ($100.00) dollars; five ton
truck, one hundred ($100.00) dollars; any major fraction over the
items provided for herein shall follow in the next higher class, trailers
shall pay one-half of the license as hereinabove set out for trucks.

Nothing in this section shall prohibit or interfere with carriers
engaged in the transportation of farm or dairy products exclusively,
from farm or dairy to market, or shipping point, nor in the trans-
portation of the necessary material used in the packing for shipment
of orchard or agricultural products nor to supplies to farmers used
and owned by them in their necessary farming operations, nor to trucks
hired to the State highway department, or to contractors engaged in
State highway work, or to the authorities of any county, city or town
engaged in the construction or maintenance of roads, streets, et cetera,
nor to trucks under contract hauling lumber, or other forest products
from mill to shipping point or place of manufacture.

There shall also be charged, in addition to the fees prescribed in
sub-section (b) of this section, for each machine kept or used for
rent or hire, for the transportation of passengers, where such vehicles
are not operated on a regular schedule, or in active competition with
the holder of a class “A” motor vehicle carrier certificate, the sum
of five dollars for each revenue-producing seat; provided, that holders
of class “A” certificates may use any of their regularly licensed ve-
hicles, of a seating capacity of more than twelve for infrequent trips,
for the transportation of special parties, either on or off their regular
route, upon the written permission of the director of the division
of motor vehicles, and for such privilege there shall be paid fifteen
dollars annually, for each vehicle so employed. Every person, firm
or corporation engaged in hiring or renting motor vehicles in this
paragraph mentioned, shall furnish to the director of the division of
motor vehicles, whenever required so to do, a list of motor vehicles
used or employed in such business, and with such description thereof
when and as may be required by the said director.

Should any person, firm or corporation, after receiving a license
from the director of the division of motor vehicles, as herein provided,
operate or attempt to operate on a regular schedule, or become or
attempt to become in competition with the holder of a class “A”
or class “C” motor vehicle carrier certificate, such person, firm or
corporation shall have such license revoked by the director of the
division of motor vehicles, from whose decision the party aggrieved
shall have a right of appeal to the circuit court of the city of Richmond,
and shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction
thereof before any justice having jurisdiction of the territory within
which any part of such operation or competition takes place, shall be
fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred and fifty
dollars, and each day’s operation or competition shall constitute a
separate offense.

(g) The director shall, in the granting of a license, require the
applicant to procure and file with said director, liability and property
damage insurance, or bond with surety, on such motor vehicles to be
used in the service aforesaid, in such amount as the director may deter-
mine but not in excess of five hundred ($500.00) dollars per revenue
producing seat, insuring or indemnifying passengers and the public
receiving personal injury by reason of an act of negligence; and for
damage to property of any person other than the assured, with a
minimum penalty of two thousand dollars, for personal injury, and
a minimum penalty of five hundred dollars for damage to property,
such policy or bond to contain such conditions, provisions and limita-
tions as the director may prescribe, and shall be kept in full force and
effect, and failure to do so shall be cause for the revocation of such
license; provided that when bond, with solvent personal surety, is
offered the same may be accepted; and provided, further, that where
such a bond is required by the municipality in which the applicant
operates, no further or additional bond shall be required hereunder.

The word “director,” as used in this act, shall mean the director
of the division of motor vehicles.

The term “owner” shall, also, include any person, firm, associ-
ation, or corporation, renting a motor vehicle or having the exclusive
use thereof, under a lease or otherwise, for a period greater than thirty
days. As between contract vendor and the contract vendee, the term
“owner” shall refer to the contract vendee, unless the contrary shall
clearly appear from the context of this act.

Section 32. Disposition of registration fees——AIl fees and licenses
collected by the provisions of this act shall be paid into the State
treasury and warrants for the expenditure of funds necessary for
the proper enforcement of the motor vehicle law shall be issued by
the comptroller upon certificates of the director of the division of
motor vehicles or his representatives, designated by him, and bonded
that the parties are entitled thereto, and shall be paid by the State
treasurer out of the said funds, not exceeding the amount appropriated
in the general appropriation bill.

This fund, except as is otherwise provided in this section, shall
constitute a special fund to be expended under the direction of the
chairman of the highway commission for the maintenance of roads
and bridges in the State highway system; provided, however, that
the State highway commission may in its discretion first set aside,
out of said funds each year, the amount in their judgment necessary
for the maintenance of the roads and bridges in the State highway
system and expend in their discretion the balance of said fund for
construction or reconstruction of roads and bridges in the State high-
way system under the provisions of sections five, six, eight and nine,
or any amendments thereto, of chapter four hundred and three of the
acts of the general assembly of nineteen hundred and twenty-two,
provided any funds available for construction or reconstruction, under
the provisions of this section shall be nearly as possible equitably
apportioned by the commission among the several construction dis-
tricts; provided, further, that no part of the said maintenance fund
shall be expended on toll roads so long as tolls are collected thereon.

The chairman of the highway commission is hereby authorized to
expend part of the funds which may be available for maintenance, and
of those that may be available for construction of roads in the State
highway system, for the maintenance, construction or reconstruction
of roads and bridges in the State highway system in incorporated
towns of thirty-five hundred inhabitants or less, according to the
latest United States census, provided that no greater amount per mile
for maintenance, construction or reconstruction is expended within the
corporate limits of any town than the average amount per mile ex-
pended for similar maintenance, construction or reconstruction of roads
in the State highway system for a distance of five miles outside the
corporate limits of such town on the road of which part within the
corporate limits is a section; but the chairman of the State highway
commission may in his discretion enter into agreements with the cor-
porate authorities of any such town, providing for the construction
of a wider or more expensive type of road, or for additional expenditure
for adequate maintenance, provided that in such case the amount of the
cost of such construction, reconstruction or maintenance in excess of
the amount which the chairman is authorized to expend under the pro-
visions hereof be borne by the town.