Introduced Version
House Bill 3016 History
| Email
Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 3016
(By Delegates Argento, Eldridge and Miley)
[Introduced February 13, 2007; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §17C-15-49 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to use of safety belts by
motor vehicle drivers and passengers; and making the fine for
failure to wear a seat belt a flat fine of twenty-five
dollars.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17C-15-49 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15. EQUIPMENT.
§17C-15-49. Operation of vehicles with safety belts; exception;
penalty; civil actions; educational program by West
Virginia State Police.
(a) Effective the first day of September, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-three, a person may not operate a passenger vehicle
on a public street or highway of this state unless the person, any passenger in the back seat under eighteen years of age, and any
passenger in the front seat of such passenger vehicle is restrained
by a safety belt meeting applicable federal motor vehicle safety
standards. For the purposes of this section, the term "passenger
vehicle" means a motor vehicle which is designed for transporting
ten passengers or less, including the driver, except that such term
does not include a motorcycle, a trailer, or any motor vehicle
which is not required on the date of the enactment of this section
under a federal motor vehicle safety standard to be equipped with
a belt system. The provisions of this section shall apply to all
passenger vehicles manufactured after the first day of January, one
thousand nine hundred sixty-seven, and being 1968 models and newer.
(b) The required use of safety belts as provided herein does
not apply to a duly appointed or contracted rural mail carrier of
the United States postal service who is actually making mail
deliveries or to a passenger or operator with a physically
disabling condition whose physical disability would prevent
appropriate restraint in such safety belt if the condition is duly
certified by a physician who shall state the nature of the
disability as well as the reason such restraint is inappropriate.
The Division of Motor Vehicles shall adopt rules, in accordance
with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, to
establish a method to certify the physical disability and to
require use of an alternative restraint system where feasible or to waive the requirement for the use of any restraint system.
(c) Any person who violates the provisions of this section
shall be fined not more than twenty-five dollars. No court costs
or other fees shall be assessed for a violation of this section.
Enforcement of this section shall be accomplished only as a
secondary action when a driver of a passenger vehicle has been
detained for probable cause of violating another section of this
code.
(d) A violation of this section is not admissible as evidence
of negligence or contributory negligence or comparative negligence
in any civil action or proceeding for damages, and shall not be
admissible in mitigation of damages: Provided,
That the court may,
upon motion of the defendant, conduct an in camera hearing to
determine whether an injured party's failure to wear a safety belt
was a proximate cause of the injuries complained of. Upon such a
finding by the court, the court may then, in a jury trial, by
special interrogatory to the jury, determine: (1) That the injured
party failed to wear a safety belt; and (2) that the failure to
wear the safety belt constituted a failure to mitigate damages.
The trier of fact may reduce the injured party's recovery for
medical damages by an amount not to exceed five percent thereof.
In the event the plaintiff stipulates to the reduction of five
percent of medical damages, the court shall make the calculations
and the issue of mitigation of damages for failure to wear a safety belt shall not be presented to the jury. In all cases, the actual
computation of the dollar amount reduction shall be determined by
the court.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, no points may be entered on any driver's record
maintained by the Division of Motor Vehicles as a result of a
violation of this section.
(f) Commencing the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-three, the Governor's highway safety program, in
cooperation with the division of public safety West Virginia State
Police and any other state departments or agencies and with county
and municipal law-enforcement agencies, shall initiate and conduct
an educational program designed to encourage compliance with safety
belt usage laws. This program shall be focused on the
effectiveness of safety belts, the monetary savings and the other
benefits to the public from usage of safety belts and the
requirements and penalties specified in this law.
(g) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to
abrogate or alter the provisions of section forty-six of this
article relating to the mandatory use of child passenger safety
devices.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make the penalty for
failure to wear a seat belt a flat fine of $25. Current law
provides that the fine may be up to $25.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.