The summer holidays are over for schoolchildren with classes in the area beginning within the next week. More than a million students will return for their education, and the Virginia Department of Transportation is asking drivers to take caution and to remember the rules of the road.
“In Virginia, it is illegal to pass a stopped school bus with flashing red lights and an extended stop sign. This means the bus is picking up or dropping off students,” reads an information release sent out on August 5. “All motorists must stop, whether they are approaching from the front in an opposite lane or overtaking it from the rear.”
This does not apply to roads with a median or other barrier, but motorists should be on the look out for students who may be crossing the street.
Local governments now have the authority under Virginia code to install cameras in school zones to capture drivers who exceed the limit.
Charlottesville has installed cameras at six locations across the city where the speed limit during school hours is 15 miles per hour. The city and the Charlottesville Police Department hired the firm Verra Mobility to enforce captured violations with a civil fine.
“When a vehicle exceeds the threshold limit, a photograph is taken of the vehicle,” reads the city’s website on the program. “A second photograph is taken as the vehicle passes the detection zone to record the vehicle’s license plate.”
The images are sent to the Charlottesville Police Department where each suspected violation is to be reviewed before a summons is issued. Each fine is $50 and there are no late fees. If you contest a violation, there will be a $66 court fee. No points will accrue for insurance purposes.
School starts in Charlottesville on August 13. City Manager Sam Sanders said the cameras will be ready to go.
“The speed cameras that we installed at the end of the year will be on,” Sanders said. “We will be ticketing. You will be paying if you speed. Do not get caught. Slow down. So on behalf of the children and our crossing guards, please slow down as our kids return to school.”
There will be a warning period in Charlottesville from August 13 to September, according to Sergeant Gregory Wade of the Charlottesville Police Department.
Albemarle County students also go back to school on August 13. Last October, speed cameras installed on Hydraulic Road near three schools went active after a test period. A county press release announcing the new cameras claimed there was a 49 percent decrease in speeding in the northbound traffic pattern and a 42 percent decrease in speeding in the southbound pattern.
This year additional cameras have been installed on U.S. 250 near several schools in Crozet to identify drivers who exceed the speed limit by ten miles per hour. There will be a thirty day warning period before citations will be issued beginning on September 15.
Additionally, Albemarle County will begin the use of cameras on school bus stop arms to identify drivers who decide to ignore the law.
The first day of school in Nelson County is Tuesday, August 12. While there are no speed cameras along U.S. 29, the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office has hired a deputy devoted entirely to speed enforcement on U.S. 29.
School also starts on August 12 in Fluvanna County.
The first day of school already took place in Louisa County this past Tuesday. The first day of school in Greene County is August 13.
Before you go: This story first went out in the podcast version of Charlottesville Community Engagement posted on August 8, 2025. It will be in the next edition, but the print edition makes it debut here on Information Charlottesville.
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