[Added 6-18-2019[1]]
A.
Pursuant to the authority of § 46.2-1313 of the Code of
Virginia, all of the provisions and requirements of the laws of the
state contained in Title 46.2 and in Article 2 of Chapter 7 of Title
18.2 of the Code of Virginia, except those provisions which are contained
in this chapter and except those provisions and requirements the violation
of which constitutes a felony and except those provisions and requirements
which by their very nature can have no application to or within the
Town, are hereby adopted and incorporated in this chapter by reference
and made applicable within the Town. References to "highways of the
state" contained in such provisions and requirements hereby adopted
shall be deemed to refer to the streets, highways and other public
ways within the Town. Such provisions and requirements are hereby
adopted, mutatis mutandis, and made a part of this chapter as fully
as though set forth at length herein, and it shall be unlawful for
any person within the Town to violate or fail, neglect or refuse to
comply with any provision of Title 46.2 or of Article 2 of Chapter
7 of Title 18.2 of the Code of Virginia which is adopted by this section,
provided that in no event shall the penalty imposed for the violation
of any provision or requirement hereby adopted exceed the penalty
imposed for a similar offense under Title 46.2 or under Article 2
of Chapter 7 of Title 18.2 of the code of Virginia.
B.
The term "Code of Virginia," as used in this section, shall mean
the Code of Virginia as in effect on the date of the adoption of this
chapter, as amended by the 1981 session of the General Assembly of
Virginia and as hereafter amended by the General Assembly of Virginia.
Members of the Fire Department may direct or assist the police
in directing traffic at or in the immediate vicinity of a fire and,
while so acting, shall have all the authority of police officers.
The operator of a vehicle in the Town shall not back such vehicle
unless such movement can be made with safety and without interfering
with other traffic.
No operator of a vehicle shall enter an intersection or a marked
crosswalk unless there is sufficient space beyond such intersection
or crosswalk in the direction in which such vehicle is proceeding
to accommodate the vehicle without obstructing the passage of other
vehicles or pedestrians, notwithstanding any traffic control signal
indication to proceed.
No person shall board or alight from any vehicle while such
vehicle is in motion.
It shall be unlawful for any person to operate or for the owner
or person in control thereof to knowingly permit the operation of,
upon a street or highway of the Town, any motor vehicle, trailer or
semitrailer without having displayed thereon the license plate or
plates assigned thereto by the State Department of Motor Vehicles
for the current registration year, whenever such license plate or
plates are required by § 46.2-613 of the Code of Virginia.
No operator of a vehicle shall drive between the vehicles, persons
or animals comprising a funeral or other authorized procession, except
when otherwise directed by a police officer. This provision shall
not apply to the specified emergency vehicles as defined in § 46.2-920
of the Code of Virginia.
A.
All motor vehicles participating in a funeral procession, when proceeding
to any place of burial, shall display illuminated headlamps thereon
and such other identification as the Chief of Police may prescribe.
B.
All motor vehicles so designated shall have the right-of-way over
all other vehicles, except fire apparatus, ambulances and police vehicles,
at any street or highway intersection within the Town and may proceed
through a stop street or signalized intersection with proper caution
and safety.
A.
Pedestrians shall not use the roadways or streets, other than the
sidewalks thereof, for travel, except when necessary to do so because
of the absence of sidewalks reasonably suitable and passable for their
use, in which case, if they walk upon the hard surface or the main
traveled portion of the roadway, they shall keep to the extreme left
side or edge thereof, or where the shoulders of the highway are of
sufficient width to permit, they may walk on either shoulder thereof.
B.
Pedestrians shall not stand or stop in any roadway or street for
the purpose of soliciting rides.
Every person riding a bicycle or an animal upon a roadway and
every person driving any animal thereon shall be subject to the provisions
of this chapter applicable to the driver of a vehicle, except those
provisions which by their very nature can have no application.
When the Town Council designates an intersection as one at which
the driver of a vehicle is required to stop or to yield the right-of-way
before entering such intersection or designates a street upon which
traffic is to proceed only in one direction or designates a place
at which U-turns are prohibited or at which turning movements are
otherwise prohibited or restricted or imposes any other regulation
of traffic for which a traffic control sign, signal, marking or device
which by state law is required to be in place to give notice to drivers
of vehicles or pedestrians, the Council shall cause such traffic control
sign, signal, marking or device to be installed and maintained as
required by law.
All traffic control signs, signals, markings and devices which
are in place anywhere within the Town pursuant to the authority of
state law, this Code or other ordinance shall be complied with, and
it shall be unlawful for the driver of any vehicle or for any pedestrian
to violate or fail to comply with any requirement, prohibition or
directive contained in any such traffic control sign, signal, marking
or device except by directive of a police officer.
A.
Whenever any vehicle, trailer or semitrailer is found on the public
streets or public grounds unattended by the owner or operator and
constitutes a hazard to traffic, or is parked in such manner as to
be in violation of law or whenever any motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer
is left unattended for more than 10 days upon public property, any
such vehicle, trailer or semitrailer may be removed for safekeeping
by or under the direction of a police officer to a storage garage
or area, provided that no such vehicle shall be so removed from privately
owned premises.
B.
The owner of such vehicle, trailer or semitrailer, before obtaining
possession thereof, shall pay to the Town all reasonable costs incidental
to the removal and storage of such vehicle, trailer or semitrailer
and locating of the owner. Should such owner fail or refuse to pay
the cost or should the identity or whereabouts of such owner be unknown
and unascertainable after a diligent search has been made and after
notice to him/her at his last known address and to the lien holder
of record with the office of the Department of Motor Vehicles of this
state against the motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer, the Chief
of Police or designated officer shall treat the vehicle as abandoned
as provided in §§ 46.2-1200 et seq. of the Code of
Virginia. After holding the vehicle, trailer or semitrailer 60 days
and after due notice of sale, the vehicle may be disposed of at a
public sale, and from the proceeds of the sale of an abandoned motor
vehicle the Town, or its authorized agent, shall reimburse itself
for the expenses of the auction, the cost of towing, preserving, and
storing the vehicle which resulted from placing the abandoned motor
vehicle in custody, and all notice and publication costs incurred
pursuant to § 46.2-1202 of the Code of Virginia. Any remainder
from the proceeds of a sale shall be held for the owner of the abandoned
motor vehicle or any person having security interests in the vehicle,
as their interests may appear, for 60 days, and then be deposited
into the treasury of the Town.
State law reference: Code of Virginia, §§ 46.2-1213,
46.2-1203.
A.
Whenever a motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer involved in an accident
is found upon the highways or streets in the Town and is so located
as to impede the orderly flow of traffic, the police may:
(1)
At no cost to the owner or operator, remove the motor vehicle, trailer,
or semitrailer to some point in the vicinity where it will not impede
the flow of traffic; or
(2)
Have the vehicle removed to a storage area for safekeeping and shall
report the removal to the Department of Motor Vehicles and to the
owner of the vehicle as promptly as possible.
A.
Any vehicle parked on a public street or other public property, for
which there are three or more unpaid or otherwise unsettled parking
violations, may be removed to a place within the Town or in an adjacent
locality designated by the chief law-enforcement officer for the temporary
storage of the motor vehicle, vehicle, or trailer. For the purposes
of this section, "unsettled" shall refer to a parking violation for
which the fine has not been voluntarily paid, for which there is no
pending disposition of an administrative appeal, and for which the
vehicle owner or operator has not requested a hearing in the general
district court.
B.
It shall be the duty of the police personnel removing the motor vehicle,
vehicle, or trailer to inform, as soon as practicable, the owner of
the removed motor vehicle, vehicle, or trailer of the nature and circumstances
of the prior unsettled parking violation notices for which the vehicle
was removed.
C.
The owner of the removed motor vehicle, vehicle, or trailer, or other person acting on his behalf, shall be permitted to repossess or to secure the release of the vehicle by payment of the outstanding parking violation notices for which the vehicle was immobilized and by payment of all costs incidental to the removal, and storage of the vehicle, and the efforts to locate the owner of the vehicle. Should the owner fail or refuse to pay such fines and costs, or should the identity or whereabouts of the owner be unknown and unascertainable after a diligent search has been made, then after notice to the owner at his last known address and to the holder of any lien of record with the Department of Motor Vehicles, the vehicle may be disposed of in accordance with § 154-13B.
State law reference: Code of Virginia, § 46.2-1216.
No person shall ride a bicycle upon any street without having
his hands upon the handlebars.
State law reference: Code of Virginia, § 46.2-906.
Except as provided by state law with respect to drivers of specific
emergency vehicles, no person shall drive or propel a vehicle upon
any street or public way of this Town at a speed in excess of the
speed posted in authorized traffic control signs upon such street
or public way or, in the absence of any such signs, at a speed in
excess of 25 miles per hour.
State law reference: Authority of cities and towns with regard
to increasing and decreasing speed limits, Code of Virginia, § 46.2-1300;
special speed limits on bridges, etc., Code of Virginia, § 46.2-881;
maximum speed limit in Town, Code of Virginia, §§ 46.2-874,
46.2-875.
Except as otherwise expressly provided by state law, it shall
be unlawful for any person to operate or cause or permit the operation
of a motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer upon the streets or highways
of this Town unless there is properly displayed thereon a valid state
inspection sticker showing that such vehicle, trailer or semitrailer
has been inspected and approved under the provisions of § 46.2-1157
et seq. of the Code of Virginia. A violation of this section shall
be deemed a traffic infraction as defined in 46.2-100 of the Code
of Virginia.
State law reference: Code of Virginia, §§ 46.2-1157,
46.2-100, 46.2-113.
No person shall throw or deposit or cause to be deposited upon
any alleyway, sidewalk, street or highway any glass bottle, glass,
nail, tack, wire, can or any other substance likely to injure any
person or animal or damage any vehicle upon such alleyway, sidewalk,
street or highway, nor shall any person throw or deposit or cause
to be deposited upon any alleyway, sidewalk, street or highway any
soil, sand, mud, gravel or other substances so as to create a hazard
to the traveling public. Any person who drops or permits to be dropped
or thrown upon any alleyway, sidewalk, street or highway any destructive,
hazardous or injurious material shall immediately remove the same
or cause it to be removed. Any person removing a wrecked or damaged
vehicle from an alleyway, sidewalk, street or highway shall remove
any glass or other injurious substance dropped upon the alleyway,
sidewalk, street or highway from such vehicle. Any person violating
any of the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction, be punished
by a fine not exceeding $2,500 or confinement in jail not exceeding
12 months, or both.
State law reference: Code of Virginia, § 18.2-324.
No person shall ride on any vehicle upon any portion thereof
not designated or intended for the use of passengers. This provision
shall not apply to an employee engaged in the necessary discharge
of duty or to persons riding within truck bodies in space intended
for merchandise.
No person shall wash, polish or grease a vehicle upon a public
street or sidewalk, nor shall the owner of a vehicle permit it to
be washed, polished or greased upon a public street or sidewalk. The
term "sidewalk" shall mean the portion of a street between the curblines,
or the lateral lines of a roadway, and the adjacent property lines,
intended for use by pedestrians.
A.
The Town Council does hereby designate the following public highways or roadways within the Town of Louisa upon which golf carts and/or utility vehicles may be operated in accordance with the provisions of Subsection B hereof:
B.
Golf carts and utility vehicles operating upon these public highways or roadways designated in Subsection A hereinabove shall be in accordance with the following limitations:
(1)
A golf cart or utility vehicle may be operated only on designated
public highways or roadways where the posted speed limit is 25 miles
per hour or less. No golf cart or golf utility vehicle shall cross
any highway or roadway at an intersection where the highway or roadway
crossed has a posted speed limit of more than 25 miles per hour;
(2)
No person shall operate any golf cart or utility vehicle on
any public highway or roadway unless he/she has in his/her possession
a valid driver's license;
(3)
Every golf cart or utility vehicle, whenever operated on a public
highway or roadway, shall display a slow-moving vehicle emblem in
accordance with § 46.2-1081 of the Code of Virginia 1950,
as amended;
(4)
Golf carts and utility vehicles shall be operated upon the public
highways or roadways only between sunrise and sunset, unless equipped
with such lights as are required by Article 3, Chapter 10, of Title
46.2 (§ 46.2-1010 et seq.) of the Code of Virginia 1950,
as amended.
C.
The limitation of Subsection B(1) shall not apply to golf carts and utility vehicles being operated as follows:
(1)
To cross a highway or roadway from one portion of the golf course
to another portion thereof or to another adjacent golf course; or
to travel between a person's home and golf course if:
(2)
To the extent necessary for Town government employees, operating
only upon highways or roadways located within the Town, to fulfill
a governmental purpose, provided the golf cart or utility vehicle
is being operated on highways or roadways with speed limits of 35
miles per hour or less; and
(3)
As necessary by employees of public or private two-year or four-year
institutions of higher education if operating on highways or roadways
within the property limits of such institutions, provided the golf
cart or utility vehicle is being operated on highways or roadways
with speed limits of 35 miles per hour or less.
D.
Signs.
(1)
All portions of public highways or roadways designated in Subsection A above for the use thereupon of golf carts or utility vehicles shall be clearly designated by a sign or signs.
(2)
The Town shall be responsible for the installation and continuing
maintenance of any signs pertaining to the operation of golf carts
or utility vehicles.
(3)
The organization, individuals or entities requesting the designation of a portion of any public highway or roadway for use thereupon by golf carts or utility vehicles shall, within 30 days of invoice by the Town, promptly reimburse the Town for all expenses incurred by the Town in the installation and continuing maintenance of the sign(s) described in this Subsection D. Failure to so reimburse the Town in a timely manner shall operate to terminate the designation of that portion of the public highway or roadway for use thereupon by golf carts or utility vehicles and the sign(s) so posted by the Town shall be promptly removed.
