Senate Bill No. 35
(By Senator Wooton, Oliverio and Hunter)
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[Introduced January 12, 2000; referred to the Committee
on Transportation.]
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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 said vehicles 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 is
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 division
as authorized under this chapter;
(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 of the implement 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 of the owner's
land, 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 attached to the implement, to and from a repair shop for
repairs. The exemption in this subdivision from registration and
license requirements also applies to any vehicle described in
this subsection 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 of the trailer 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 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 is owned by
the same or different persons;
(B) Any vehicle exempted under this subsection from the
requirements of annual registration certificate and license
plates and fees for the registration certificate and license plate may not use the highways between sunset and sunrise;
(C) Any vehicle exempted under this section subdivision from
the requirements of annual registration certificate and license
plates may use the highways as provided in this section whether
the exempt vehicle is self-propelled, towed by another exempt
vehicle or towed by another vehicle required to be registered;
(D) Any vehicle used as an implement of husbandry exempt
under this section shall 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 to the applicant 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, which shall be retained by the assessor;
(ii) A farm-use exemption certificate shall not exempt the
applicant from maintaining the security 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 the offense of operating a
vehicle without a farm-use exemption certificate, if required
under this section, may be convicted of the offense 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 which is
owned by the government of the United States;
(5) Any wrecked or disabled vehicle towed by a licensed
wrecker or dealer on the public highways of this state;
(6) The following recreational vehicles (A) Motorboats,
all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles are exempt from the
requirements of annual registration, license plates and fees, unless otherwise specified by law, but are subject to the
certificate of title provisions of this chapter regardless of
highway use. Motorboats, all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles
(B) The provisions of this subdivision do not authorize and
may not be construed to authorize the use of motorboats,
all-terrain vehicles or snowmobiles on any highway of this state.
Anyone who operates a motorboat, all-terrain vehicle or
snowmobile 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; and
(7) Any special mobile equipment as defined in subsection
(r), section one, article one of this chapter.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) 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.