CHAPTER 617

An Act to amend and reenact § 46.1-857, as amended, of the Code of
Virginia, relating to the issuance of operator’s permits; age limits
required; exceptions as to and procedure for licensing persons be-
tween certain ages; prohibiting certain persons under a certain age
from driving in certain cities and counties.

PTT FRAO
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 46.1-357, as amended, of the Code of Virginia be amended and
reenacted as follows:

§ 46.1-3857. (a) No operator’s license shall be issued to any person
under the age of eighteen years except as hereinafter provided and no
chauffeur’s license shall be issued to any person under the age of eighteen
years except that:

(1) An operator’s license may be issued to a minor * of the age of
fifteen years and under the age of eighteen years upon proper application
therefor and upon satisfactory evidence that the minor is mentally, physi-
cally and otherwise qualified to drive a motor vehicle with safety. The ap-
plication must be signed by the father and the mother of the applicant, ex-
cept that if there be only one surviving parent or one parent has sole
custody of the minor, as indicated by an appropriate statement on the ap-
plication, or if in any case the Commissioner determines that for good
cause it is not feasible to secure the signature of both parents, it shall be
sufficient that the application be signed by the surviving parent, or parent
having sole custody of the minor, or the parent whose signature can be ob-
tained, otherwise by the guardian having custody of such minor or in the
event a minor under the age of eighteen years has no father, mother or
guardian, then an operator’s license shall not be issued to the minor unless
his application therefor is signed by the judge of the juvenile and domestic
relations court of the city or county in which the applicant resides. If the
minor making such application is married, in lieu of the consent required in
the preceding sentence, upon proper evidence of the solemnization of the
marriage, the spouse of such minor may sign the application, if the spouse
is over the age of eighteen years. Any father and mother, surviving parent,
parent having custody, or, in the discretion of the Commissioner, either
parent, in case both are not present within the State, spouse or guardian,
as the case may be, may thereafter file with the Division a written request
that the license of said minor so granted be cancelled. Thereupon, the Di-
vision shall cancel the license of said minor and such license shall not there-
after be reissued by the Division until a period of six months has elapsed
from the date of cancellation. The minor shall be required to state in his
application whether or not he has been convicted of an offense triable by,
or tried in, a juvenile and domestic relations court. If it appears that such
minor has been adjudged not innocent of the offense alleged the Division
shall not issue a license without the written approval of the judge of the
juvenile and domestic relations court making an adjudication as to such
minor or the like approval of a similar court of the county or city in which
the parent, guardian, spouse or employer respectively of the child resides.

(2) Each operator’s license issued pursuant to the provisions of para-
graph (1) hereof shall contain thereon a suitable legend that such license
must be revalidated by the Division of Motor Vehicles within twelve
months from the date of original issuance and each succeeding twelve-
month period thereafter until the holder thereof attains the age of eighteen
years, unless such license is sooner revoked, suspended or cancelled in ac-
cordance with other provisions of law. The absence of such evidence of
revalidation appearing on such license shall be considered sufficient to
prohibit and make unlawful the operation of any motor vehicle in this
State by the licensee if such operation occurs after twelve months from the
date of issue or last revalidation stamp appearing on such license. The
holder of each such operator’s license issued pursuant to the provisions of
paragraph (1) hereof must apply in person to any point designated by the
Division for the examination of operator’s or chauffeur’s licenses and
must be accompanied by a parent, spouse or guardian from whom the
original consent for the issuance of such license was obtained and such con-
sent shall be reaffirmed by such person at the time of appearance; pro-
vided, however, the Division may waive this requirement for good cause
shown. The Division, upon receipt of application for revalidation, shall
examine the driving record of each such applicant and may revalidate the
license or take such other action as may be appropriate in accordance with
any other provision of law.

(3) The Division upon receiving from any person over the age of fif-
teen years an application for a temporary instruction permit may in its
discretion issue such a permit entitling the applicant while having such a
permit in his immediate possession, to drive a motor vehicle upon the
highways for a period of ninety days and to students in a public or paro-
chial school driver training course which has been approved by the State
Department of Education, for a period of one hundred and eighty days,
when accompanied by a licensed operator or chauffeur who is actually oc-
cupying a seat by the driver.

(b) No minor under the age of * sixteen years shall drive a motor
vehicle on the streets, roads, highways and alleys of any city, or of any
county having a population greater than * eighty-nine thousand in this
State if prohibited from so doing by a proper city or county ordinance,
unless driving under the provisions of § 22-235.1.