ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 414
(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, and Sprouse,
By Request of the Executive)
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[Passed April 7, 2005; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact §17C-15-46 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the use of child
safety booster seats for children under eight years of age
unless the child is at least four feet nine inches tall or
taller.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17C-15-46 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, 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 eight
years in a passenger automobile, van or pickup truck other than one
operated for hire shall, while the motor vehicle is in motion and
operated on a street or highway of this state, provide for the protection of the child by properly placing, maintaining and
securing the child in a child passenger safety device system
meeting applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards:
Provided, That if a child is under the age of eight years and at
least four feet nine inches tall, 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 does not by virtue of the
violation 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, the invalidity may 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 may not be considered in violation of
this section.