Chap. 239.—An ACT to amend and re-enact Section 62, as heretofore amended, of
Chapter 342 of the Acts of the General Assembly of 1932, approved March 26,
1932, and cited as “The Motor Vehicle Code of Virginia’, so as to prescribe
further reductions in speed limits, in the interest of greater safety, and to
provide for further reductions thereof, under certain circumstances, by execu-
tive order. [H B 39]

Approved March 18, 1942

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That section
sixty-two, as heretofore amended, of chapter three hundred and forty-
two of the Acts of the General Assembly of nineteen hundred and thirty-
two, approved March twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred and thirty-two,
and cited as “The Motor Vehicle Code of Virginia’, is amended and
re-enacted as follows:

Section 62. Restrictions as to speed; other acts declared misde-
meanors.—Any person who shall

(a) 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, or

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

(1) 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 highway so as to indicate the location of such schools, or

(2) Fifteen miles an hour in a business district as defined in this
act, or

(3) Twenty-five miles an hour in a residential district as defined
in this act, or

(4) Such speed as may be determined as follows: (i) the State
highway commission on all highways maintained by the State Highway
Department or the authorities of cities and towns on all highways main-
tained by them may increase or decrease the speed in business districts
and residential districts as defined and provided for in this act, 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 (11)
such speed as shall be fixed by the State Highway Commission on all
highways maintained by the State Highway Department or the authori-
ties of cities and towns on all highways maintained by them, for congested
areas or curves, right angle turns or other dangerous points on the high-
ways, when such areas or points are clearly indicated by markers or signs
and such speed shall be based upon an engineering and traffic investiga-
tion, or

(5) 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 forty-five miles per hour, or any passenger motor vehicle
or motorcycle at a speed in excess of forty-five miles per hour, or any
other motor vehicle, including trucks, at a speed in excess of forty miles
per hour, provided, however, the speed limit established by this section
shall have no application to the operation of any motor vehicle while
being operated by any member of the armed forces of this State or of the
United States, acting in his line of duty and on the orders of a commis-
sioned officer of such forces.

(c) Drive to the left of a center of the street except upon one-way
streets, or

(d) Violate any provision of the right of way laws, as set forth in
sections seventy-six and seventy-seven of this act, or

(e) 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, or

(f{) Make a left turn without passing to the right of the center of
the intersection, whether marked or not, or

(g) Make a right turn without keeping close to the curb, or

(h) Coast or operate a motor vehicle with the gears in neutral, or

(1) While operating a vehicle upon any highway, fail or refuse to
control the lights of such vehicle by shifting, depressing, tilting or dim-
ming 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

(j) Drive any motor vehicle in any county having, according to
the last preceding United States census, more than six hundred inhabi-
tants 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 subsection (f) of section fifty-two
of this act, by the board of supervisors or other governing board of such
county, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, shall be
punished in accordance with the provisions of section one hundred and
eighteen of this act.

Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this section the Gov-
ernor may, if in his opinion an emergency exists due to a shortage of rub-
ber or gasoline or either of them, prescribe by executive order that no
motor vehicle may be driven upon the highways of this State at a speed in
excess of forty miles per hour. Any person who shall drive any motor ve-
hicle upon a highway in this State at a speed in excess of any maximum
speed limit so established by executive order shall be guilty of a misde-
meanor, and upon conviction shall be punished in accordance with the
provisions of section one hundred and eighteen of this act.

This act shall be null and void after June thirtieth, nineteen hundred
and forty-four.

2. “An emergency exists and this act shall be in force from thirty
days after its passage.
cH. 240] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 351