Senate Bill No. 154
(By Senators Ball, Dittmar, Hunter, Kessler, Mitchell,
Oliverio, Snyder and McKenzie)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported January 15, 1999.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section seven, article six, chapter
seventeen-c of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to allowing Class
IV municipalities to employ radar devices for enforcing
speeding laws; and qualification of operators.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seven, article six, 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 6. SPEED RESTRICTIONS.
§17C-6-7. Prima facie evidence of speed by devices employing
microwaves; placing of signs relative to radar; operator
qualifications.
(a) The speed of a motor vehicle may be proved by evidence
obtained by use of any device designed to measure and indicate or
record the speed of a moving object by means of microwaves, when
such the evidence is obtained by members of the department of
public safety, state police, by police officers of incorporated municipalities in Cclasses I, II, one, two, and IIIthree and IVfour, as defined in
chapter eight-a sections two and three, article one, chapter
eight of this code, and by the sheriff and his or her deputies of
the several counties of the state. The evidence so obtained
shall be accepted as prima facie evidence of the speed of such
vehicle.
(b) The provisions of this section shall only apply where
the operator of the device is a certified law-enforcement officer
who has also been certified to operate said device by the
national highway traffic safety administration.
(c) In order to inform and educate the public generally that
speed of motor vehicles operating within the state is being
tested by radar mechanisms, the state road commission
commissioner of highways shall locate and place suitable and
informative stationary and movable signs at strategic points on
and along highways in each county of the state giving notice to
the public that such radar mechanisms are in use.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow Class IV
municipalities to employ radar devices for enforcing speeding
laws. The bill also contains technical changes for the purpose
of cleaning up the code.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that
would be added.)