H. B. 2845
(By Delegate McGraw)
[Introduced March 28, 1997; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article fifteen, chapter
seventeen-c of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact
section one, article eighteen of said chapter, all relating
to motor vehicle equipment; and requiring law-enforcement
officers to give citations to persons stopped for equipment
violations; and providing that no criminal offense is
committed unless the equipment violation is not corrected
after five-days notice of the violation.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article fifteen, chapter seventeen-c of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section one,
article eighteen of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15. EQUIPMENT.
§17C-15-1. Unsafe and improperly equipped vehicles; additional
parts and accessories; applicability of article to
farm and road equipment.
(a) It is a misdemeanor for any person to drive or move or
for the owner to cause or knowingly permit to be driven or moved
on any highway any vehicle or combination of vehicles which is in
such an unsafe condition as to endanger any person, or which does
not contain those parts or is not at all times equipped with such
lamps and other equipment in proper condition and adjustment as
required in this article, or which is equipped in any manner in
violation of this article, or for any person to do any act
forbidden or fail to perform any act required under this article.
(b) Nothing contained in this article shall be construed to
prohibit the use of additional parts and accessories on any
vehicle not inconsistent with the provisions of this article.
(c) The provisions of this article with respect to equipment
on vehicles shall does not apply to implements of husbandry, road
machinery, road rollers or farm tractors except as herein made
applicable. Every farm tractor equipped with an electric
lighting system shall at all times mentioned in section two of
this article display a red tail lamp and either multiple-beam or single-beam head lamps meeting the requirements of sections two,
twenty and twenty-two of this article, respectively.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or
article to the contrary, any person who is charged by any
law-enforcement officer for a violation of the provisions of this
article relating to defective equipment shall be given a citation
indicating the equipment that is defective and advising that
person that the defect must be corrected within five working days
from the date of issuance of the citation. If the defect is not
corrected within the prescribed period, then the penalty
provisions of this section and article apply.
ARTICLE 18. PENALTIES.
§17C-18-1. Violations of chapter; penalties for misdemeanor.
(a) It is a misdemeanor for any person to violate any of the
provisions of this chapter unless such the violation is by this
chapter or other law of this state declared to be a felony.
(b) Every person convicted of a misdemeanor for a violation
of any of the provisions of this chapter for which another
penalty is not provided shall for a first conviction thereof be
punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or by
imprisonment for not more than ten days; for a second such
conviction within one year thereafter such the person shall be
punished by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than twenty days or by both such fine
and imprisonment; upon a third or subsequent conviction such the
person shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred
dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six months or both
such fine and imprisonment.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or
article to the contrary, any person who is charged by any
law-enforcement officer for a violation of any provision of this
chapter relating to defective equipment shall be given a citation
indicating the equipment that is defective and advising that
person that the defect must be corrected within five working days
from the date of issuance of the citation. If the defect is not
corrected within the prescribed period, then the penalty
provisions of this section and article apply.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to permit persons charged
with driving a motor vehicle with defective equipment to have
five working days to correct the defective equipment before being
charged with a misdemeanor offense.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.