H. B. 2918
(By Delegates C. White, Williams,
Sparks, Proudfoot and Martin)
[Introduced February 25, 1999; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend article seven, chapter fifty-five of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twenty, relating to limiting the civil liability of tourist
railroads and their railroad facility providers.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article seven, chapter fifty-five of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twenty, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. ACTIONS FOR INJURIES.
§55-7-20. Limiting liability of tourist railroads and rail facility providers; liability insurance.
(a) As used in this section:
(1) "Tourist railroad" means any person, railroad,
corporation or other entity whose principal purpose is, by means of trains, trackage and other equipment and facilities, to
provide entertainment or enlightenment to persons or groups of
persons, whether or not for profit, by transporting them to,
through, on, at or near places of scenic, historical or
educational interest.
(2) "Rail facility provider" means any person, railroad,
corporation or other entity which provides rail equipment and
facilities for the use of a tourist railroad in its operations.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the
liability of a tourist railroad and its rail facility provider
for any and all claims arising from a rail incident or accident
occurring in West Virginia, shall not exceed three million
dollars.
(c) This section does not limit the liability of a person
whose intentional misconduct causes a rail incident or accident.
(d) Before the commencement of operations and at all times
throughout its operations, the tourist railroad shall secure and
maintain a comprehensive general liability insurance policy,
which reflects that both the tourist railroad and the rail
facility provider are named insureds; that the named insureds are
covered for any and all property damage, personal injury and
death claims arising out of any rail incident or accident
occurring in the state of West Virginia, including coverage for
those employees subject to the provisions of the Federal Employees Liability Act; that there is no self-insured retention
or deductible greater than one hundred thousand dollars; and that
the limits of coverage are no less than three million dollars per
occurrence and no less than three million dollars in the
aggregate.
(e) A tourist railroad shall provide evidence of its
insurance coverage immediately upon demand by any person or
agency of the state of West Virginia.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to encourage more tourist
railroad projects by limiting tourist railroad liability and that
of railroad facility providers to three million dollars.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.