ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 249
(By Senators Anderson, Wagner, Sharpe, Yoder, Dittmar,
Deem, Love, Dugan, Manchin, Whitlow, Miller, Helmick,
Buckalew, Ross, Schoonover, Bailey and Oliverio)
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[Passed March 5, 1996; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact section three, article twelve,
chapter seventeen-c of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
the stopping of certain vehicles at all railroad grade
crossings; and removing exceptions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article twelve, 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 12. SPECIAL STOPS REQUIRED.
§17C-12-3. Certain vehicles must stop at all railroad grade
crossings.
(a) The driver of any motor vehicle carrying passengers for hire, or of any bus, or of any vehicle required to be placarded
under 49 CFR part 172 carrying explosive substances, flammable
liquids or hazardous materials as a cargo or part of a cargo, or
of any vehicle owned by an employer which, in carrying on such
employer's business or in carrying employees to and from work, is
carrying more than six employees of such employer, before
crossing at grade any track or tracks of a railroad, shall stop
such vehicle within fifty feet but not less than fifteen feet
from the nearest rail of such railroad and while so stopped shall
listen and look in both directions along such track for any
approaching train and for signals indicating the approach of a
train, except as hereinafter provided, and shall not proceed
until he can do so safely. After stopping as required herein and
upon proceeding when it is safe to do so the driver of any said
vehicle shall cross only in such gear of the vehicle that there
will be no necessity for changing gears while traversing such
crossing and the driver shall not shift gears while crossing the
track or tracks.
(b) No stop need be made at any such crossing where a police
officer or a traffic-control signal directs traffic to proceed.
(c) Any person driving a vehicle that requires a commercial driver's license who fails to comply with the requirements of
this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined one hundred dollars or imprisoned for not
more than ten days. The commissioner shall promulgate rules to
further penalize those convicted of violating this section by
levying three points against the violator's driver's license
record: Provided, That if the electric or mechanical signal
device is malfunctioning, this subsection shall not apply.