Senate Bill No. 182
(By Senators Rowe, McCabe, Hunter and White)
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[Introduced January 20, 2003; referred to the Committee on
Transportation.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section forty-six, article fifteen,
chapter seventeen-c of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to child
passenger safety seats, booster seats and safety devices;
requiring every driver transporting children
less than nine
years of age
in certain motor vehicles to maintain and secure
the child in a child passenger safety seat or booster seat or
other safety device meeting federal motor vehicle safety
standards; and providing that a seat belt meets this
requirement for children at least four years of age or over
forty pounds in weight.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section forty-six, 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-15-46. Child passenger safety devices required; child safety seats and booster seats.
Every driver who transports a child under the age of nine
years in a passenger automobile, van or pickup truck other than one
operated for hire shall, while such motor vehicle is in motion and
operated on a street or highway of this state, provide for the
protection of such child by properly placing, maintaining and
securing such child in a child passenger safety device system
meeting applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards:
Provided, That if such child is between the age of three and eight
both inclusive, a vehicle seat belt shall be sufficient to meet the
requirements of this section if a child is at least four years of
age or at least
forty pounds in weight, a safety belt shall be
sufficient to meet the requirements of this section.
Any person who violates any provision of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than ten dollars nor more than twenty dollars.
A violation of this section shall not be deemed by virtue of
such violation to constitute evidence of negligence or contributory
negligence or comparative negligence in any civil action or
proceeding for damages.
If any provision of this section or the application thereof to
any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall
not affect other provisions or applications of this section and to
this end the subsections of this section are declared to be
severable.
If all seat belts in a vehicle are being used at the time of
examination by a law officer and the vehicle contains more
passengers than the total number of seat belts or other safety
devices as installed in compliance with federal motor vehicle
safety standards, the driver shall not be considered as violating
this section.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
require every driver
transporting children less than nine years of age in certain motor
vehicles to maintain and secure the child in a child passenger
safety seat or booster seat or other safety device meeting federal
motor vehicle safety standards. The bill also provides that a seat
belt meets this requirement for children who are at least four
years of age or over forty pounds in weight.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)