H. B. 2458


(By Delegates Manuel and Butcher)
[Introduced January 20, 2003; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section six, article seventeen, chapter seventeen-c of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the requirement that certain loads of motor vehicles be covered; and making the operator and the owner of the vehicle violating this section guilty of a misdemeanor.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section six, article seventeen, 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 17. SIZE, WEIGHT AND LOAD.
§17C-17-6. Loads to be securely fastened and not allowed to leak, escape, etc.

(a) No vehicle or combination of vehicles shall may be operated on any highway unless such the vehicle or combination of vehicles is so constructed or loaded as to prevent any of its load from dropping, sifting, leaking, or otherwise escaping therefrom, except that sand may be dropped for the purpose of securing traction, or water or other substance may be sprinkled on a roadway in cleaning or maintaining such the roadway.
(b) It shall be is unlawful to operate on any highway any vehicle or combination of vehicles with any load unless said the load and any covering thereon is securely fastened so as to prevent said covering or load from becoming loose, detached, or in any manner a hazard to other users of the highway.
It is unlawful for any person to operate, on any roadway, any vehicle or combination of vehicles with any load of coal, cinders, gravel, sand, stone, wood chips or any other like material unless the load is securely covered to prevent any escape of the load except that sand or other material may be dropped for the purpose of securing traction, or water or other substance may be sprinkled on a roadway in cleaning or maintaining such roadway.
The operator and the owner of any vehicle violating this section are guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than two hundred fifty dollars.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the mandatory covering of any vehicles carrying loads of coal, cinders, gravel, sand, stone, wood chips or other like materials on any roadway by vehicles or combination of vehicles, in order to prevent the escape of such material, and to establish that the operator or owner of any vehicle in violation of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than two hundred fifty dollars.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.