H. B. 2930
(By Delegate Fletcher (By Request))
[Introduced February 26, 1999; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section forty-six, article fifteen,
chapter seventeen-c of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
increasing the penalty for child seat belt violations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section forty-six, article fifteen, 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 15. EQUIPMENT.
§17C-15-46. Child passenger safety device required.
Every driver who transports a child under the age of nine
years in a passenger automobile, van or pickup truck other than
one operated for hire, shall, while such motor vehicle is in motion and operated on a street or highway of this state, provide
for the protection of such child by properly placing, maintaining
and securing such child in a child passenger safety device system
meeting applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards:
Provided, That if such child is between the age of three and
eight both inclusive, a vehicle seat belt shall be sufficient to
meet the requirements of this section.
Any person who violates any provision of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than ten twenty dollars nor more than twenty one
hundred dollars.
A violation of this section shall not be deemed by virtue of
such violation to constitute evidence of negligence or
contributory negligence or comparative negligence in any civil
action or proceeding for damages.
If any provision of this section or the application thereof
to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity
shall not affect other provisions or applications of this
section, and to this end the subsections of this section are
declared to be severable.
If all seat belts in a vehicle are being used at the time of
examination by a law officer and the vehicle contains more
passengers than the total number of seat belts or other safety
devices as installed in compliance with federal motor vehicle safety standards, the driver shall not be considered as violating
this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the possible
penalty for violation of the section to not less than twenty
dollars nor more than one hundred dollars.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.