ENGROSSED
H. B. 2296
(By Delegates Leach, Hubbard, Yeager and Amores)
[Introduced February 19, 2001
; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section twelve, article two, chapter
seventeen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to requiring a
vision test for renewal of a driver's license.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twelve, article two, chapter seventeen-b of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. ISSUANCE OF LICENSE, EXPIRATION AND RENEWAL.
§17B-2-12. Expiration of licenses; renewal; renewal fees.
(a) Every driver's license shall expire five years from the
date of its issuance.
(b) (1) Every driver's license issued to persons who have
attained their twenty-first birthday shall expire on the day of
the month designated by the commissioner in which the applicant's
birthday occurs in those years in which the applicant's age is
evenly divisible by five. Except as provided in the following subdivisions, no driver's license may be issued for less than
three years nor more than seven years and shall be valid for a
period of five years, expiring in the month in which the
applicant's birthday occurs and in a year in which the
applicant's age is evenly divisible by five.
(2) Every driver's license issued to persons who have not
attained their twenty-first birthday shall expire on the day of
the month designated by the commissioner in the year in which the
applicant attains the age of twenty-one years, except as provided
in section three-a of this article.
(3) The driver's license of any person in the armed forces is
extended for a period of six months from the date the person is
separated under honorable circumstances from active duty in the
armed forces.
(4) The commissioner may change the date that a driver's
license expires from the last day of the month in those years
specified in subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection to the
day of the month in which the applicant's birthday occurs in
those years. If the commissioner changes the expiration date,
the change may only affect new licenses and renewed licenses.
(c) A person who allows his or her driver's license to expire
may apply to the division for renewal of the license.
Application shall be made upon a form furnished by the division
and shall be accompanied by payment of the fee required by
section eight of this article plus an additional fee of five
dollars. The commissioner shall determine whether the person
qualifies for a renewed license and may, in the commissioner's discretion, renew any expired license without examination of the
applicant.
(d) Each renewal of a driver's license shall contain a new
color photograph of the licensee. By first class mail to the
address last known to the division, the commissioner shall notify
each person who holds a valid driver's license of the expiration
date of the license. The notice shall be mailed at least thirty
days prior to the expiration date of the license and shall
include a renewal application form.
(e) The division shall require every person applying for
renewal of a driver's license to take and successfully pass a
test of eyesight
which test shall be the same test administered
to new applicants for drivers' licenses.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.