Senate Bill No. 386
(By Senators Boley and McKenzie)
[Introduced March 5, 2001;]
A BILL to amend and reenact section six, article thirteen, chapter
seventeen-c of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to restricting
coverage of persons entitled to be issued special registration
plates or placards; providing entitlement for special
registration plates or placards for persons who transport
persons with disabilities; modifying definition of a person
with a mobility impairment; providing that "accessible
parking" is preferred language in reference to "handicapped
parking"; increasing criminal penalties; creating new criminal
offense for selling unofficially issued placards or
identification cards; providing that identification cards
shall be identical in design for both registration plates and
placards; providing requirements relative to accessible parking space signposts; providing local authorities who adopt
enforcement provisions contained in this section shall retain
fines and fees associated with enforcement under the section;
and providing the commissioner issues a separate document
informing general public regarding the new provisions and
increased fines under the legislation.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section six, article thirteen, chapter seventeen-c of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 13. STOPPING, STANDING AND PARKING.
§17C-13-6. Stopping, standing or parking privileges for persons
with a mobility impairment; definitions;
qualification; special registration plates and
removable windshield placards; expiration;
application; violation; penalties.
(a) Any owner of a Class A or Class G motor vehicle subject to
registration under the provisions of article three, chapter
seventeen-a of this code, who is:
(1) A person with a mobility impairment;
(2) A relative of a person with a mobility impairment;
(3) A person who regularly resides with a person with a
mobility impairment; or
(4) A person who regularly transports a person who has a
mobility impairment, may submit an application for up to two a
special registration plate or a removable windshield placards;
(b) Any (2) A person with a mobility impairment, any relative
of a person with a mobility impairment, any person who regularly
resides with a person with a mobility impairment or any person who
regularly transports a person who has a mobility impairment may
submit an application for a special registration plate or a up to
two removable windshield placards or both for a Class A or a Class
G vehicle; by submitting to the commissioner or
(3) A West Virginia organization which transports persons with
disabilities and will facilitate the mobility of the organization's
customers, patients, students or persons otherwise placed under the
responsibility or the organization may submit an application for a
removable windshield placard for a vehicle by submitting to the
commissioner:
(1) (A) An application on a form prescribed and furnished by
the commissioner, specifying whether the applicant desires a
special registration plate, a removable windshield placard, or both; and
(2) (B) A certificate issued by a licensed physician stating
that the applicant or the applicant's relative is a person with a
mobility impairment, or that the person regularly residing with the
applicant or regularly transported by the applicant is a person
with a mobility impairment, as defined in this section, and
furthermore, the physician shall specify whether the disability is
temporary (not to exceed six months) or permanent (one to five
years or more in expected duration).
Upon receipt of the completed application, the physician's
certificate and the regular registration fee for the applicant's
vehicle class, if the commissioner finds that the applicant
qualifies for the special registration plate or a removable
windshield placard as provided in this section, he or she shall
issue to the applicant a special registration plate (upon
remittance of the regular registration fee), or a removable
windshield placard (red for temporary and blue for permanent), or
both. Upon request, the commissioner shall also issue to any
otherwise qualified applicant one additional placard having the
same expiration date as the applicant's original placard. The
placard shall be displayed by hanging it from the interior rearview mirror of the motor vehicle so that it is conspicuously visible
from outside the vehicle when parked in a designated handicapped
accessible parking space. The placard may shall be removed from
the rearview mirror whenever the vehicle is being operated to
ensure clear vision and safe driving. Only in the event that there
is no suitable rearview mirror in the vehicle may the placard be
displayed on the dashboard of the vehicle.
(c) (b) As used in this section, the following terms have the
meanings ascribed to them in this subsection:
(1) A person or applicant with a "mobility impairment" means
a person who is a citizen of West Virginia, as determined by a
licensed physician, allopath or osteopath licensed to practice in
West Virginia:
(A) Cannot walk two hundred feet without stopping to rest;
(B) Cannot walk without the use of or assistance from a brace,
cane, crutch, prosthetic device, wheelchair, other assistive device
or another person;
(C) Is restricted by lung disease to such an extent that the
person's force (respiratory) expiratory volume for one second, when
measured by spirometry, is less than one liter or the arterial
oxygen tension is less than sixty mm/hg on room air at rest;
(D) Uses portable oxygen;
(E) Has a cardiac condition to such an extent that the
person's functional limitations are classified in severity as Class
III or Class IV according to standards established by the American
heart association; or
(F) Is severely limited in his or her ability to walk because
of an arthritic, neurological, or other orthopedic or other
physical condition;
(2) "Special registration plate" means a registration plate
that displays the international symbol of access in a color that
contrasts with the background, in letters and numbers the same size
as those on the plate, and which may be used in lieu of a regular
registration plate;
(3) "Removable windshield placard" (permanent or temporary)
means a two-sided, hanger style placard measuring three inches by
nine and one-half inches, with all of the following on each side:
(A) The international symbol of access, measuring at least
three inches in height, centered on the placard, in white on a blue
background for permanent designations and in white on a red
background for temporary designations;
(B) An identification number measuring one inch in height;
(C) An expiration date in numbers measuring one inch in
height; and
(D) The seal or other identifying symbol of the issuing
authority;
(4) "Regular registration fee" means the standard registration
fee for a vehicle of the same class as the applicant's;
(5) "Public entity" means state or local government or any
department, agency, special purpose district or other
instrumentality of a state or local government;
(6) "Public facility" means all or any part of any buildings,
structures, sites, complexes, roads, parking lots or other real or
personal property, including the site where the facility is
located;
(7) "Place(s) of public accommodation" means a facility or
facilities operated by a private entity whose operations affect
commerce and fall within at least one of the following categories:
(A) Inns, hotels, motels and other places of lodging;
(B) Restaurants, bars or other establishments serving food or
drink;
(C) Motion picture houses, theaters, concert halls, stadiums
or other places of exhibition or entertainment;
(D) Auditoriums, convention centers, lecture halls or other
places of public gatherings;
(E) Bakeries, grocery stores, clothing stores, hardware
stores, shopping centers or other sales or rental establishments;
(F) Laundromats, dry cleaners, banks, barber and beauty shops,
travel agencies, shoe repair shops, funeral parlors, gas or service
stations, offices of accountants and attorneys, pharmacies,
insurance offices, offices of professional health care providers,
hospitals or other service establishments;
(G) Terminals, depots or other stations used for public
transportation;
(H) Museums, libraries, galleries or other places of public
display or collection;
(I) Parks, zoos, amusement parks or other places of
recreation;
(J) Public or private nursery, elementary, secondary,
undergraduate or post-graduate schools or other places of learning
and day care centers, senior citizen centers, homeless shelters,
food banks, adoption agencies or other social services
establishments; and
(K) Gymnasiums, health spas, bowling alleys, golf courses or other places of exercise or recreation.
(8) "Commercial facility" means a facility whose operations
affect commerce and which are intended for nonresidential use by a
private entity.
(9) "Accessible parking" formerly known as "handicapped
parking" is the present phrase consistent with language within the
American's with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Any person who falsely or fraudulently obtains or seeks to
obtain the special plate or the removable windshield placard
provided for in this section, and any person who falsely certifies
that a person is mobility impaired in order that an applicant may
be issued the special registration plate or windshield placard
hereunder, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof,
in addition to any other penalty he or she may otherwise incur,
shall be fined one five hundred dollars. Any person who
fabricates, uses or sells unofficially issued windshield placards
to any person or organization is committing a fraudulent act and is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, in addition
to any other penalty he or she may otherwise incur, shall be fined
five hundred dollars per placard fabricated, used or sold. Any
person who fabricates, uses or sells unofficially issued identification cards to any person or organization is committing a
fraudulent act and is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, in addition to any other penalty he or she may otherwise
incur, shall be fined seven hundred dollars per identification card
fabricated, used or sold. Any person who fabricates, uses or sells
unofficially issued labels imprinted with a future expiration date
to any person or organization is committing a fraudulent act and is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, in addition
to any other penalty he or she may otherwise incur, shall be fined
seven hundred dollars. Any applicant covered by this section who
sells or gives away their officially issued windshield placard to
any person or organization not qualified to apply or receive such
placard and then re-applies for a new placard on the basis it was
stolen is committing a fraudulent act and is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, in addition to any other
penalty he, she or they may otherwise incur, shall lose their right
to receive or use a special placard or special license plate for a
period of not less than five (5) years.
(d) (c) The commissioner shall set the expiration date for
special registration plates and permanent removable windshield
placards on the last day of a given month and year, to be valid for a minimum of one year but not more than five years, after which
time a new application must be submitted to the commissioner.
After the commissioner receives the new application, signed by a
certified physician, the commissioner shall issue: (i) A new
special registration plate or new permanent removable windshield
placard; or (ii) official labels imprinted with the new expiration
date and designed so as to be placed over the old dates on the
original registration plate or windshield placard.
(e) (d) The commissioner shall set the expiration date of
temporary removable windshield placards to be valid for a period of
approximately six months after the application was received and
approved by the commissioner.
(f) (e) The commissioner shall issue to each applicant who is
granted a special registration plate or windshield placard an
identification card bearing the applicant's name, assigned
identification number and expiration date. The applicant must
thereafter carry this identification card on his or her person
whenever parking in a handicapped an accessible parking space. The
identification card shall be identical in design for both
registration plates and removable windshield placards.
(g) (f) A handicapped An accessible parking space should comply with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act
Accessibility Guidelines, contained in 28 C.F.R. 36, Appendix A,
Section 4.6. In particular, the parking space should be a minimum
of eight feet wide with an adjacent eight foot access aisle for
vans having side mounted handicap hydraulic lifts or ramps or a
five foot access aisle for standard vehicles. Access aisles should
be marked using diagonal two to four inch wide stripes spaced every
twelve or twenty-four inches apart or other appropriate markings
denoting that the space is a no-parking zone. All accessible
parking spaces should have a signpost in front or adjacent to the
accessible parking space displaying the International Symbol of
Access sign mounted at a minimum of eight feet above the pavement
or sidewalk and the top of the sign. Lines or markings on the
pavement or curbs for parking spaces and access aisles may be in
any color, although blue is the generally accepted color for
handicapped accessible parking.
(h) (g) A vehicle from any other state, United States
territory or foreign country displaying an officially issued
special registration plate, placard or decal bearing the
international symbol of access, shall be recognized and accepted as
meeting the requirements of this section, regardless of where the plate, placard or decal is mounted or displayed on the vehicle.
(i) (h) Free stopping, standing or parking places marked with
the international symbol of access shall be designated in close
proximity to all public entities, including state, county and
municipal buildings and facilities, places of public accommodation
and commercial facilities. These parking places shall be reserved
solely for persons with a mobility impairment during the hours that
those buildings are open for business at all times.
(j) (i) Any person whose vehicle properly displays a valid,
unexpired special registration plate or removable windshield
placard may park the vehicle for unlimited periods of time in
parking zones unrestricted as to length of parking time permitted:
Provided, That this privilege does not mean that the vehicle may
park in any zone where stopping, standing or parking is prohibited
or which creates parking zones for special types of vehicles or
which prohibits parking during heavy traffic periods during
specified rush hours or where parking would clearly present a
traffic hazard. To the extent any provision of any ordinance of
any political subdivision of this state is contrary to the
provisions of this section, the provisions of this section take
precedence and apply.
The parking privileges provided for in this subsection apply
only during those times when the vehicle is being used for the
transportation loading or unloading of a person with a mobility
impairment. Any person who knowingly exercises, or attempts to
exercise, these privileges at a time when the vehicle is not being
used for the transportation loading or unloading of a person with
a mobility impairment is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, in addition to any other penalty he or she may
otherwise incur, shall be fined one three hundred dollars.
(k) (j) Any person whose vehicle does not display a valid,
special registration plate or removable windshield placard may not
stop, stand or park a motor vehicle in an area designated, zoned or
marked for handicapped accessible parking with signs or
instructions displaying the international symbol of access, either
by itself or with explanatory text. Such signs may be mounted on
a post or a wall in front of the handicapped accessible parking
space and instructions may appear on the ground or pavement, but
use of both methods is preferred. Handicapped Accessible parking
spaces for vans having an eight-foot adjacent access aisle should
be designated as "van accessible" but may be used by any vehicle
displaying a valid special registration plate or removable windshield placard. These spaces are intended solely for persons
with a mobility impairment, as defined in this section: Provided,
That any person in the act of transporting a person with a mobility
impairment as defined in this section, may stop, stand or park a
motor vehicle not displaying a special registration plate or
removable windshield placard in the area designated for handicapped
accessible parking by the international symbol of access for the
limited purposes of loading or unloading a passenger with a
mobility impairment: Provided, however, That the vehicle shall be
promptly moved after the completion of this limited purpose.
Any person who violates the provisions of this subsection is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined one three hundred dollars.
(l) (k) All signs erected in the future that designate areas
as "handicapped accessible parking" or that display the
international symbol of access shall also include the words "$100
$300 fine".
(m) (l) No person may stop, stand or park a motor vehicle
in an area designated or marked off as an access aisle adjacent to
a van-accessible parking space or regular handicapped accessible
parking space. Any person, including a driver of a vehicle displaying a valid removable windshield placard or special
registration plate, who violates the provisions of this subsection
is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined one three hundred dollars.
(n) (m) Parking enforcement personnel who otherwise enforce
parking violations are hereby authorized to issue citations
referencing the number on the vehicle's license plate, since the
driver normally will not be present for violations of this section.
(o) (n) Law-enforcement agencies may establish a program to
utilize trained volunteers to collect information necessary to
issue citations to persons who illegally park in designated
handicapped accessible parking spaces. Any law-enforcement agency
choosing to establish a program shall provide for workers'
compensation and liability coverage. The volunteers shall
photograph the illegally parked vehicle and complete a form, to be
developed by supervising law-enforcement agencies, that includes
the vehicle's license plate number, date, time and location of the
illegally parked vehicle. The photographs must show the vehicle in
the handicapped accessible space and a readable view of the license
plate. Within the discretion of the supervising law-enforcement
agency, the volunteers may issue citations or the volunteers may submit the photographs of the illegally parked vehicle and the
form to the supervising law-enforcement agency, who may issue a
citation, which includes the photographs and the form, to the owner
of the illegally parked vehicle. Volunteers shall be trained on
the requirements for citations for vehicles parked in marked, zoned
or designated handicapped accessible parking areas by the
supervising law-enforcement agency.
(o) Local authorities who adopt the basic enforcement
provisions of this section and issue their own local ordinances
shall retain all fines and associated late fees. These revenues
shall be used first to fund the provisions of subsection (n), if
adopted by local authorities, or otherwise will go into the local
authorities' general revenue fund. Otherwise, any moneys collected
as fines shall be collected for and remitted to the state.
(p) The commissioner shall establish a grace period for
individuals who, on the effective date of the amendment adding this
subsection, hold special registration plates or removable
windshield placards bearing no expiration date to submit their
applications for newly issued special registration plates and
windshield placards, after which time any undated registration
plate or windshield placard is invalid and subject to confiscation by any duly appointed law-enforcement officer prepare and issue a
document to applicants describing the privileges accorded a vehicle
having a special registration plate and removable windshield
placard as well as the penalties when such vehicle is being
inappropriately used as described in the above sections and sub-
sections and be included along with the issued special registration
plate or windshield placard. Furthermore, the commissioner shall
issue a separate document informing the general public regarding
the new provisions and increased fines being imposed either by way
of newspaper announcements or other appropriate means across the
state.
(q) The commissioner shall adopt and promulgate rules in
accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code to effectuate the provisions of this
section within ninety days after being enacted by the Legislature
in its regular session.
NOTE: The purposes of this bill are as follows: (1) To
restrict coverage of persons entitled to be issued special
registration plates or placards; (2) to provide entitlement for
special registration plates or placards for persons who transport
persons with disabilities; (3) to modify the definition of a person
with a mobility impairment; (4) to provide that "accessible
parking" is the preferred language reference to "handicapped
parking"; (5) to increase existing criminal penalties provided for under the section; (6) to create new criminal offenses for, among
others, selling unofficially issued placards or identification
cards; (7) to provide that identification cards shall be identical
in design for both registration plates and placards; (8) to provide
requirements relative to accessible parking space signposts; (9) to
provide local authorities who adopt enforcement provisions
contained in this section retain fines and fees associated with
enforcement under the section; and,(10) to provide the commissioner
issues a separate document informing the general public regarding
the new provisions and increased fines under the legislation;
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
Email
Webmaster | © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **
