ENGROSSED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 52
(By Senators Kessler, Hunter, Ross, Chafin, Minard and Caldwell)
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[Originating in the Committee on Transportation;
reported February 5, 2004.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §17A-3-15 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to registration plates for
motorcycles; allowing for plates to be fastened in vertical
position; and requiring the commissioner of the division of
motor vehicles to offer owners of motorcycles the choice of
registration plates for vertical or horizontal positioning.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17A-3-15 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. ORIGINAL AND RENEWAL OF REGISTRATION; ISSUANCE OF
CERTIFICATES OF TITLE.
§17A-3-15. Display of registration plates.
(a) Registration plates issued for vehicles required to be registered hereunder under this article shall be attached to the
rear thereof of the vehicles except that on truck tractors and road
tractors designed and constructed to pull trailers or semitrailers,
the registration plate shall be mounted to the front.
(b) Every registration plate shall at all times be securely
fastened in a horizontal position to the vehicle for which it is
issued so as to prevent the plate from swinging and at a height of
not less than twelve inches from the ground, measuring from the
bottom of such the plate, in a place and position to be clearly
visible and shall be maintained free from foreign materials and in
a condition to be clearly legible.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this
section, an owner of a motor vehicle with a Class G registration as
defined in section one, article ten of this chapter may choose to:
(1) Display a standard, Class G registration plate in a
horizontal position; or
(2) Display a specially designed Class G registration plate in
a vertical position issued by the division of motor vehicles if the
owner:
(A) Pays a one-time fee of twenty-five dollars to cover the
additional cost and services necessary to issue the special
registration plate to be deposited into a special revolving fund to
be used for the administration of this chapter; and
(B) Pays all other required fees and complies with all other
applicable provisions of this code regarding the titling,
registration and operation of the vehicle.