Chap. 3.—An ACT to amend and re-enact Section 62, as amended, of Chapter 342,
Acts of 1932, approved March 26, 1932, short title of which is “The Motor
Vehicle Code of Virginia”, so as, in interest of greater safety and of war and
defense economy, to make changes in certain speed limits, to provide for greater
latitude with respect to changes in speed limits by executive order of the
Governor, to provide for the automatic expiration of the act; and to declare
the existence of an emergency. {H B 2]

Approved October 5, 1942

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That section
sixty-two, as amended, of chapter three hundred and forty-two of the
Acts of the General Assembly of nineteen hundred and thirty-two, ap-
proved March twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred and thirty-two, short title
of which is “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 t 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 i 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
(it) 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 con-
gested 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 enginering and traffic
investigation, 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 thirty-five miles per hour, or any passenger motor vehicle or
motorcycle at.a speed in excess of thirty-five miles per hour, or any other
motor vehicle, including trucks, at a speed in excess of thirty-five 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 a com-
missioned 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 iEaierieLrrately before entering
auch, street, Or.

(f° Make a left turn without passing to the right of the center a
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

(i) 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, as from time to time amended, of the Motor Vehicle Code of
Virginia.

Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this section the Gover-
nor may, if in his opinion an emergency exists due to a shortage of rubber
or gasoline, or relative to safety of life, limb or property on the highways,
or any of them, in the interest of war and defense economy, or in the
interest of safety of life, limb or property on the highways, prescribe,
by executive order, that no motor vehicle, or no motor vehicle of any par-
ticular class or being used in any particular manner, may be driven upon
the highways of this State at a speed in excess of a certain rate per hour,
less than that in this section prescribed for the particular class or par-
ticular use, provided that the reduced speed limit so prescribed by execu-
tive order shall not be less for any class or use than thirty miles an hour.
The Governor may, whenever in his opinion the existing conditions and
situation justify so doing, increase the maximum speed limit by like
executive order, provided that it shall not be so increased as to any class
or use beyond a maximum limit of forty-five miles an hour, and thereafter
the Governor may, under like circumstances and in like manner, again de-
crease the speed limit, and so on. In no case, however, shall any decrease
in speed limit be made effective earlier than the eleventh day subsequent
to the day of issuance of the executive order effecting the decrease. Every
such executive order shall have the full force and effect of law.

Any person who shall drive any motor vehicle upon a highway in
this State at a speed in excess of any maximum speed limit so estab-
lished by executive order shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon
conviction shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of section
one hundred and eighteen of the Motor Vehicle Code of Virginia.

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

2. An emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.