H. B. 2450
(By Delegates Williams, Stemple, Stalnaker,
Kuhn, Coleman, Butcher and Kominar)
[Introduced January 20, 2003; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation then the
Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article fourteen, chapter
seventeen-c of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to clarifying that a
person may start a motor vehicle on private property for the
purpose of warming the engine and leave the vehicle unattended
for a reasonable period of time.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article fourteen, 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 14. MISCELLANEOUS RULES.
§17C-14-1. Unattended motor vehicle; penalty.
(a) No person driving or in charge of a motor vehicle shall
may permit it to stand unattended without first stopping the
engine, locking the ignition, removing the key and effectively setting the brake thereon and, when standing upon any grade,
turning the front wheels to the curb or side of the highway.
(b) Any person violating the provisions of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not more than one hundred dollars; upon a second conviction
within one year thereafter, shall be fined not more than two
hundred dollars; and upon a third or subsequent conviction, shall
be fined not more than five hundred dollars.
(c) Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit a
person from starting a motor vehicle on private property for the
purpose of warming the engine and leaving that vehicle unattended
for a reasonable period of time.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify that the
provisions of §17C-14-1 do not prohibit a person from starting a
motor vehicle on private property for the purpose of warming the
engine and leaving that vehicle unattended for a reasonable period
of time.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.