The Commissioner of Highways may pay and settle claims and demands against the Commonwealth arising as a result of damages sustained to personal property by reason of work projects or the operation of state-owned or operated equipment when engaged in the construction, reconstruction, or maintenance of the primary state highway system, unless said claims or demands arise as a result of negligence of the person asserting such claims or demands. Nothing in this section shall be construed as imposing any legal liability upon the Commonwealth to pay such claims or demands, nor as giving the consent of the Commonwealth to be sued in any action or suit to recover on such claims or demands in the event the Commissioner of Highways refuses payment of said claims or demands.

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Terms Used In Virginia Code 33.2-243

  • Commissioner of Highways: means the individual who serves as the chief executive officer of the Department of Transportation. See Virginia Code 33.2-100
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Highway: means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way or place open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 33.2-100
  • Maintenance: means (i) ordinary maintenance; (ii) maintenance replacement; (iii) operations that include traffic signal synchronization, incident management, and other intelligent transportation system functions; and (iv) any other categories of maintenance that may be designated by the Commissioner of Highways. See Virginia Code 33.2-100
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • State: includes District of Columbia;

    (f) "Transit facilities" means all real and personal property located in the Zone, necessary or useful in rendering transit service between points within the Zone, by means of rail, bus, water or air and any other mode of travel, including, without limitation, tracks, rights-of-way, bridges, tunnels, subways, rolling stock for rail, motor vehicle, marine and air transportation, stations, terminals and ports, areas for parking and all equipment, fixtures, buildings and structures and services incidental to or required in connection with the performance of transit service;

    (g) "Transit services" means the transportation of persons and their packages and baggage by means of transit facilities between points within the Zone including the transportation of newspapers, express and mail between such points, and charter service which originates within the Zone but does not include taxicab service or individual-ticket-sales sightseeing operations;

    (h) "Transit Zone" or "Zone" means the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Zone created and described in Section 3 as well as any additional area that may be added pursuant to Section 83(a) of this Compact; and

    (i) "WMATC" means Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Commission. See Virginia Code 33.2-3100

Code 1950, § 33-117.1; 1970, c. 322, § 33.1-200; 2014, c. 805.

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