Senate Bill No. 532
(By Senators Wooton and Oliverio)
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[Introduced February 12, 1999.];
referred to the Committee on .]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article three, chapter
seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to clarifying that
provisions requiring the titling of certain recreational
vehicles do not authorize highway use; and establishing
criminal penalties for the operation of same on a highway.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article three, chapter seventeen-a of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. ORIGINAL AND RENEWAL OF REGISTRATION; ISSUANCE OF
CERTIFICATES OF TITLE.
§17A-3-2. Every motor vehicle, etc., subject to registration and
certificate of title provisions; exceptions.
(a) Every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer and recreational vehicle when driven or moved upon a highway shall
be subject to the registration and certificate of title provisions
of this chapter except:
(1) Any vehicle driven or moved upon a highway in conformance
with the provisions of this chapter relating to manufacturers,
transporters, dealers, lienholders or nonresidents or under a
temporary registration permit issued by the department as
hereinafter authorized;
(2) Any implement of husbandry upon which is securely attached
a machine for spraying fruit trees and plants of the owner or
lessee or for any other implement of husbandry which is used
exclusively for agricultural or horticultural purposes on lands
owned or leased by the owner thereof and which is not operated on
or over any public highway of this state for any other purpose
other than for the purpose of operating it across a highway or
along a highway other than an expressway as designated by the
commissioner of the division of highways from one point of the
owner's land to another part thereof, irrespective of whether or
not the tracts adjoin: Provided, That the distance between the
points may not exceed twenty-five miles, or for the purpose of
taking it or other fixtures thereto attached, to and from a repair
shop for repairs. The foregoing exemption from registration and
license requirements shall also apply to any vehicle hereinbefore
described or to any farm trailer owned by the owner or lessee of the farm on which the trailer is used, when the trailer is used by
the owner thereof for the purpose of moving farm produce and
livestock from the farm along a public highway for a distance not
to exceed twenty-five miles to a storage house or packing plant,
when the use is a seasonal operation:
(A) The exemptions contained in this section shall also apply
to farm machinery and tractors: Provided, That the machinery and
tractors may use the highways in going from one tract of land to
another tract of land regardless of whether the land be owned by
the same or different persons.
(B) Any vehicle exempted hereunder from the requirements of
annual registration certificate and license plates and fees
therefor may not be permitted to use the highways between sunset
and sunrise.
(C) Any vehicle exempted hereunder from the requirements of
annual registration certificate and license plates shall be
permitted to use the highways as herein provided whether the exempt
vehicle is self-propelled, towed by another exempt vehicle or towed
by another vehicle for which registration is required.
(D) Any vehicle used as an implement of husbandry exempt
hereunder must have the words "farm use" affixed to both sides of
the implement in ten inch letters. Any vehicle which would be
subject to registration as a Class A or B vehicle if not exempted
by this section shall display a farm use exemption certificate on the lower driver's side of the windshield:
(i) The farm use exemption certificate shall be provided by
the commissioner and shall be issued annually by the assessor of
the applicant's county of residence. The assessor shall issue a
farm use exemption certificate upon his or her determination
pursuant to an examination of the property books or documentation
provided by the applicant that the vehicle has been properly
assessed as Class I personal property. The assessor shall charge
a fee of two dollars for each certificate, one dollar of the fee
shall be retained by the assessor and one dollar shall be remitted
by the assessor to the commissioner of the division of motor
vehicles to be deposited in a special revolving fund to be used in
the administration of this section.
(ii) A farm use exemption certificate in no way exempts the
applicant from maintaining the security as required by chapter
seventeen-d of this code on any vehicle being operated on the roads
or highways of this state.
(iii) No person charged with operating a vehicle without a
farm use exemption certificate, if required under this section,
shall be convicted if he or she produces in court, or in the office
of the arresting officer, a valid farm use exemption certificate
for the vehicle in question within five days;
(3) Any vehicle which is propelled exclusively by electric
power obtained from overhead trolley wires though not operated upon
rails;
(4) Any vehicle of a type subject to registration owned by the
government of the United States;
(5) Any wrecked or disabled vehicle which is being towed by a
licensed wrecker or dealer on the public highways of this state;
(6) The following recreational vehicles shall be exempt from
the requirements of annual registration, license plates and fees,
unless otherwise specified by law, but shall be subject to the
certificate of title provisions of this chapter regardless of
highway use: Motorboats, all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles; and
(7) Any special mobile equipment as defined in subsection (r),
section one, article one of this chapter.
(b) The provisions of this article relating to recreational
vehicles shall become which became effective on the first day of
July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine do not authorize and
shall not be construed to authorize the use of motorboats, all- terrain vehicles or snowmobiles on any highway of this state.
Anyone who operates such a vehicle on a highway of this state is
guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction thereof, be
subject to the penalties set forth in section one, article eleven
of this chapter.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (b)
of this section:
(1) Mobile homes or manufactured homes are exempt from the
requirements of annual registration, license plates and fees;
(2) House trailers may be registered and licensed; and
(3) Factory-built homes are subject to the certificate of
title provisions of this chapter.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify that certain
vehicles designed for off-highway use are not authorized to be
driven on a highway of this state.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.