H. B. 2182
(By Delegates Douglas, Staton,
Mahan, Wills and Trump)
[Introduced February 14, 2001; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section forty-nine, article fifteen,
chapter seventeen-c of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
requiring all occupants driving or riding in a passenger
motor vehicle to wear safety belts; and requiring a
twenty-five dollar penalty for violation.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section forty-nine, 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-15-49. Operation of vehicles with safety belts; exception; penalty; civil actions; educational program by
division of public safety.
(a) Effective the first day of September July, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-three two thousand one, a person may not
operate a passenger vehicle on a public street or highway of this
state unless the person and any passenger in the back seat under
eighteen years of age, and any passenger in the front seat of
such passenger in the vehicle is restrained by a safety belt
meeting applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards. For
the purposes of this section, the term "passenger vehicle" means
a motor vehicle which is designed for transporting ten passengers
or less, including the driver, except that such the term does not
include a motorcycle, a trailer or any motor vehicle which is not
required on the date of the enactment of this section under a
federal motor vehicle safety standard to be equipped with a belt
system. The provisions of this section shall apply to all
passenger vehicles manufactured after the first day of January,
one thousand nine hundred sixty-seven, and being 1968 models and
newer.
(b) The required use of safety belts as provided herein does
not apply to a duly appointed or contracted rural mail carrier of
the United States postal service who is actually making mail deliveries or to a passenger or operator with a physically
disabling condition whose physical disability would prevent
appropriate restraint in such safety belt if the condition is
duly certified by a physician who shall state the nature of the
disability as well as the reason such restraint is inappropriate.
The division of motor vehicles shall adopt rules, in accordance
with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, to
establish a method to certify the physical disability and to
require use of an alternative restraint system where feasible or
to waive the requirement for the use of any restraint system.
(c) Any person who violates the provisions of this section
shall be fined not more than twenty-five dollars. No court costs
or other fees shall may be assessed for a violation of this
section. Enforcement of this section shall may be accomplished
only as a secondary action when a driver of a passenger vehicle
has been detained for probable cause of violating another section
of this code.
(d) A violation of this section is not admissible as
evidence of negligence or contributory negligence or comparative
negligence in any civil action or proceeding for damages, and
shall not be is not admissible in mitigation of damages: Provided, That the court may, upon motion of the defendant,
conduct an in camera hearing to determine whether an injured
party's failure to wear a safety belt was a proximate cause of
the injuries complained of. Upon such a finding by the court,
the court may then, in a jury trial, by special interrogatory to
the jury, determine: (1) That the injured party failed to wear
a safety belt; and (2) that the failure to wear the safety belt
constituted a failure to mitigate damages. The trier of fact may
reduce the injured party's recovery for medical damages by an
amount not to exceed five percent thereof. In the event the
plaintiff stipulates to the reduction of five percent of medical
damages, the court shall make the calculations and the issue of
mitigation of damages for failure to wear a safety belt shall may
not be presented to the jury. In all cases, the actual
computation of the dollar amount reduction shall be determined by
the court.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, no points may be entered on any driver's record
maintained by the division of motor vehicles as a result of a
violation of this section.
(f) Commencing the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three, the governor's highway safety program, in
cooperation with the division of public safety West Virginia
state police and any other state departments or agencies and with
county and municipal law-enforcement agencies, shall initiate
and conduct an educational program designed to encourage
compliance with safety belt usage laws. This program shall be
focused on the effectiveness of safety belts, the monetary
savings and the other benefits to the public from usage of safety
belts and the requirements and penalties specified in this law.
(g) Nothing contained in this section shall may be construed
to abrogate or alter the provisions of section forty-six of this
article relating to the mandatory use of child passenger safety
devices.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require all occupants
driving or riding in a motor vehicle to wear safety belts. It
also requires the assessment of a $25.00 fine for violations.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.