Senate Bill No. 119
(By Senators Buckalew, Snyder, Kessler and White)
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[Introduced January 14, 1998; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article fifteen, chapter seventeen-c of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
forty-six-a, relating to prohibiting children under the age
of nine from riding in the back of an open truck;
exceptions; and penalty.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article fifteen, chapter seventeen-c of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
forty-six-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15. EQUIPMENT.
§17C-15-46a. Children prohibited from riding in open truck bed.
Any driver who transports a child under the age of nine years in a pickup truck, or in any other vehicle having an open
bed for the purpose of hauling cargo, or in a vehicle towing a
trailer with an open bed, while the vehicle or vehicle-trailer
combination is in motion, may not allow the child to ride in the
open bed of the truck, trailer or other hauling vehicle:
Provided, That this section does not apply to children riding on
the bed of such a vehicle while engaged in a parade or other
exhibition event, or while engaged in farm work off of the
streets or highways of the state.
Any person who violates the provisions of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than twenty dollars nor more than fifty dollars.
A violation of this section may not be considered by virtue
of the violation to constitute evidence of negligence or
contributory negligence or comparative negligence in any civil
action or proceeding for damages.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit a child under
the age of nine from riding in the open bed of a truck or
trailer, except when in a parade or for farm work.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.