H. B. 2184
(By Delegates Leach, Yeager and Amores)
[Introduced January 14, 2003; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation then Finance.]
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 as prescribed by the commissioner and superintendent of
the state police.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require persons applying
for renewal of a driver's license to pass a vision test
administered by the State Police or Division of Motor Vehicles.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.