Introduced Version
House Bill 2990 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 2990
(By Delegate Staggers)
(By Request of the Division of Motor Vehicles)
[Introduced
March 20, 2013
; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation then the
Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §17A-3-3 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §17D-2A-2,
§17D-2A-5 and §17D-2A-7 of said code, all relating to
insurance or other security required for registration or
operation of a motor vehicle; permitting electronic
acknowledgment of insurance at the time of registration;
clarifying that vehicle security requirements do not apply to
commercial motor vehicles that are insured under commercial
auto coverage; removing the requirement that insurance
companies must provide notices of cancellation to the Division
of Motor Vehicles; removing annual reporting requirement by
the Division of Motor Vehicles on the number cancellation
notices and suspensions; clarifying the penalties for first
and subsequent violations of operating a motor vehicle without
required insurance or security; replacing the driver's license suspension penalty of a person who knowingly operates a
vehicle without the required security with a
provision stating
that a person who
is not the vehicle owner and who is
convicted of operating a motor vehicle that does not have the
required security shall have the conviction placed on the
driver's license record; and prohibiting the Division of Motor
Vehicles from suspending or revoking the license of a vehicle
owner if the citation is received by the agency more than one
year from the date of the offense.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17A-3-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §17D-2A-2, §17D-2A-5 and
§17D-2A-7 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
CHAPTER 17A. MOTOR VEHICLE ADMINISTRATION, REGISTRATION,
CERTIFICATE OF TITLE, AND ANTITHEFT PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 3. ORIGINAL AND RENEWAL OF REGISTRATION; ISSUANCE OF
CERTIFICATES OF TITLE.
§17A-3-3. Application for registration; statement of insurance or
other proof of security to accompany application;
criminal penalties; fees; special revolving fund.
Every owner of a vehicle subject to registration under this
article shall make application to the division for the registration of the vehicle upon the appropriate form or forms furnished by the
division and every application shall bear the signature of the
owner or his or her authorized agent, written with pen and ink, and
the application shall contain:
(a) The name, bona fide residence and mailing address of the
owner, the county in which he or she resides or business address of
the owner if a firm, association or corporation.
(b) A description of the vehicle including, insofar as the
data specified in this section may exist with respect to a given
vehicle, the make, model, type of body, the manufacturer's serial
or identification number or other number as determined by the
commissioner.
(c) In the event a motor vehicle is designed, constructed,
converted or rebuilt for the transportation of property, the
application shall include a statement of its declared gross weight
if the motor vehicle is to be used alone, or if the motor vehicle
is to be used in combination with other vehicles, the application
for registration of the motor vehicle shall include a statement of
the combined declared gross weight of the motor vehicle and the
vehicles to be drawn by the motor vehicle; declared gross weight
being the weight declared by the owner to be the actual combined
weight of the vehicle or combination of vehicles and load when
carrying the maximum load which the owner intends to place on the
vehicle; and the application for registration of each vehicle shall also include a statement of the distance between the first and last
axles of that vehicle or combination of vehicles.
The declared gross weight stated in the application may not
exceed the permissible gross weight for the axle spacing listed in
the application as determined by the table of permissible gross
weights contained in chapter seventeen-c of this code; and any
vehicle registered for a declared gross weight as stated in the
application is subject to the single-axle load limit set forth in
that chapter.
(d) Each applicant shall state whether the vehicle is or is
not to be used in the public transportation of passengers or
property, or both, for compensation and if used for compensation,
or to be used, the applicants shall certify that the vehicle is
used for compensation and shall, as a condition precedent to the
registration of the vehicle, obtain a certificate of convenience or
permit from the Public Service Commission unless otherwise exempt
from this requirement in accordance with chapter twenty-four-a of
this code.
(e) A statement or electronic acknowledgment under penalty of
false swearing that liability insurance is in effect and will
continue to be in effect through the entire term of the vehicle
registration period within limits which may not be less than the
requirement of section two, article four, chapter seventeen-d of
this code, which shall contain the name and National Association of Insurance Commissioners assigned code of the applicant's insurer,
the policy number, and any other information required by the
Commissioner of Motor Vehicles or proof that the applicant has
qualified as a self-insurer meeting the requirements of section
two, article six of said chapter and that as a self-insurer he or
she has complied with the minimum security requirements as
established in section two, article four of that chapter. If the
commissioner determines that the required security is not or was
not in effect, he or she shall suspend the vehicle owner's driver's
license and revoke the vehicle registration in accordance with the
provisions of article two-a, chapter seventeen-d of this code.
If any person making an application required under the
provisions of this section, in the application knowingly provides
false information, false proof of security or a false statement of
insurance, or if any person, including an applicant's insurance
agent, knowingly counsels, advises, aids or abets another in
providing false information, false proof of security, or a false
statement of insurance in the application he or she is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more
than $500, or be imprisoned in jail for a period not to exceed
fifteen days, or both fined and imprisoned and, in addition to the
fine or imprisonment, shall have his or her driver's license
suspended for a period of ninety days and vehicle registration
revoked if applicable.
(f) Any further information that is reasonably required by the
division to enable it to determine whether the vehicle is lawfully
entitled to registration.
(g) Each application for registration shall be accompanied by
the fees provided in this article and an additional fee of $.50 for
each motor vehicle for which the applicant seeks registration.
(h) Revocation of a motor vehicle registration pursuant to
this section does not affect the perfection or priority of a lien
or security interest attaching to the motor vehicle that is noted
on the certificate of title to the motor vehicle.
CHAPTER 17D. MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY RESPONSIBILITY LAW.
ARTICLE 2A. SECURITY UPON MOTOR VEHICLES.
§17D-2A-2. Scope of article.
This article applies to the operation of all motor vehicles
required to be registered or operated on the roads and highways to
have the security in effect, as provided in section two, article
two of this chapter three of this article, with the exception of
motor vehicles owned by the state, any of its political
subdivisions or by the federal government.
For the purposes of this article, commercial auto coverage is
defined as any coverage provided to an insured, regardless of
number of vehicles or entity covered, under a commercial coverage
form and rated from a commercial manual approved by the Department
of Insurance Commission. This article shall does not apply to commercial vehicles insured under commercial auto coverage;
however, insurers of such vehicles may participate on a voluntary
basis.
§17D-2A-5. Cancellation of Minimum insurance policy; suspension
regristration; minimum policy term.
(a) An insurance company shall provide the Division of Motor
Vehicles with a cancellation notice within ten days of the
effective date of cancellation whenever the company issues or
causes to be issued a cancellation under the provisions of
subsections (b) through (e), section one, article six-a, chapter
thirty-three of this code. Unless the Division of Motor Vehicles
by legislative rule allows for an alternative to suspension, the
division shall then suspend the driver license of the owner of such
vehicle for a period of thirty days and shall suspend the motor
vehicle registration until proof of insurance is presented to the
division. If, within the thirty-day period a license or
registration is suspended, the owner shows proof of insurance, the
owner's license and registration shall be immediately removed from
suspension. If a license or registration is not suspended as
result of the cancellation of insurance, the owner of the motor
vehicle shall submit a statement under penalty of false swearing,
that the cancellation will not result in the operation of an
uninsured motor vehicle upon the highways of this state, and this
verification shall be sent to the commissioner within twenty days of the notice of cancellation.
(b) On or before January 15, 1985, the Commissioner of Motor
Vehicles shall report to the Legislature upon proceedings pursuant
to this section. The report shall include the total number of
statements selected for verification as required by section three,
article three, chapter seventeen-a, the total number of notices
received from insurers, the total number of notices of pending
suspensions issued and the total number of cases in which
cancellation was found to have resulted in a lapse of coverage upon
a vehicle operated upon the highways of this state during the prior
year.
(c) No policy of motor vehicle liability insurance issued or
delivered for issuance in this state shall be contracted for a
period of less than ninety days: Provided, That the Insurance
Commissioner may establish exceptions thereto by rules and
regulations to chapter twenty-nine-a.
§17D-2A-7. Suspension or revocation of license, registration;
reinstatement.
(a) Any owner of a motor vehicle, subject to the provisions of
this article, who fails to have the required security in effect at
the time such vehicle is registered or being operated upon the
roads or highways shall have his or her driver's license suspended
by the Commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles and shall
have his or her motor vehicle registration revoked as follows:
(1) For the first offense, the commissioner shall suspend the
driver's license for thirty days and
shall revoke the owner's
vehicle registration until such time as he or she presents current
proof of insurance on all currently registered vehicles: Provided,
That if an owner complies with the provisions of this subdivision,
and pays a penalty fee of $200 before the effective date, the
driver's license suspension of thirty days shall not be imposed and
the vehicle registration revocation shall be not imposed and no
reinstatement fees are required.
(2) For the second or subsequent offense within five years,
the commissioner shall suspend the owner's driver's license for a
period of thirty ninety days and shall revoke the owner's vehicle
registration until he or she presents to the Division of Motor
Vehicles the proof of security required by this article.
(3) For the third or subsequent offense within five years, the
commissioner shall suspend the owner's driver's license for a
period of ninety days and revoke the vehicle registration until
such time as he or she presents current proof of insurance.
(4) (3) If the motor vehicle is titled and registered in more
than one name, the commissioner shall suspend the driver's license
of only one of the owners.
(b) Any person who knowingly operates
is not the vehicle owner
and is convicted of operating
a motor vehicle upon the roads or
highways of this state which does not have the security required by the provisions of this article shall have
the conviction placed on
his or her driver's license record. suspended by the commissioner
subject to the following:
(1) For the first offense, the commissioner shall suspend the
driver's license until such time as he or she presents current
proof of insurance on all currently registered vehicles: Provided,
That if a driver complies with the provisions of this section and
pays a penalty fee of $200 before the effective date of the
driver's license suspension, the thirty day driver's license
suspension shall not be imposed and no reinstatement fees are
required.
(2) For the second offense within five years, the commissioner
shall suspend the driver's license for a period of thirty days.
(3) For the third or subsequent offense within five years, the
commissioner shall suspend the person's driver's license for a
period of ninety days.
(c) A person's driver's license shall be suspended in
accordance with subsection(b) of this section if the person is
operating a motor vehicle designated for off-highway use upon the
roads and highways of this state without the required security in
effect.
(c) The division may not suspend or revoke a driver's license
under this article for any citation of driving without insurance
that is received by the division from a court after one year from the date of the offense.
(d) The commissioner may withdraw a suspension of a driver's
license or revocation of a motor vehicle registration and refund
any penalty or reinstatement fees at any time provided that the
commissioner is satisfied that there was not a violation of the
provisions of required security related to operation of a motor
vehicle upon the roads or highways of this state by such person.
The commissioner may request additional information as needed in
order to make such determination.
(e) A person may not have his or her driver's license
suspended or motor vehicle registration revoked under any
provisions of this section unless he or she and any lienholder
noted on the certificate of title shall is first given written
notice of such suspension or revocation sent by certified mail, at
least thirty days prior to the effective date of such suspension or
revocation, and upon that person's written request, he or she shall
be afforded an opportunity for a hearing thereupon as well as a
stay of the commissioner's order of suspension or revocation and an
opportunity for judicial review of such hearing. The request for
a hearing shall be made within ten days from the date of receipt of
the notice of driver's license suspension or motor vehicle
registration revocation. The scope of the hearing is limited to
questions of identity or whether or not there was insurance in
effect at the time of the event causing the commissioner's action. Upon affirmation of the commissioner's order, the period of
suspension, revocation or other penalty commences to run.
(f) A suspended driver's license is reinstated following the
period of suspension upon compliance with the conditions set forth
in this article and a revoked motor vehicle registration is
reissued only upon lawful compliance with the provisions of this
article.
(g) Revocation of a motor vehicle registration pursuant to
this section does not affect the perfection or priority of a lien
or security interest attaching to the motor vehicle that is noted
on the certificate of title to the motor vehicle.
(h) Any owner or driver of a motor vehicle determined by an
electronic insurance verification program to be uninsured shall be
assessed the same criminal and administrative sanctions prescribed
in this chapter subject to the following:
(1) Any person who is assessed a penalty prescribed by this
section has the same procedural due process provided by this
chapter or by rules promulgated by the division to show that there
was not a violation and provide for the exoneration of any
penalties or records; and
(2) The commissioner may accept a binder, an identification
card or a declaration page from a policy as evidence of insurance
pending electronic verification to stay a pending administrative
sanction.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove the option for
motorists to provide owner's handwritten statements of insurance.
The bill eliminates the requirement that companies provide Division
of Motor Vehicles with notices of cancellation of insurance
policies. The bill permits electronic acknowledgment of insurance
at the time of registration. The bill clarifies that vehicle
security requirements do not apply to commercial motor vehicles
that are insured under commercial auto insurance. The bill removes
the requirement that insurance companies must provide notices of
cancellation to the Division of Motor Vehicles. The bill removes
annual reporting requirement by the Division of Motor Vehicles on
the number cancellation notices and suspensions. The bill clarifies
the penalties for first and subsequent violations of operating a
motor vehicle without required insurance or security. The bill
replaces the driver's license suspension penalty of a person who
knowingly operates a vehicle without the required security with a
provision stating that a person who
is not the vehicle owner and
who is convicted of operating a motor vehicle that does not have
the required security shall have the conviction placed on the
driver's license record. The bill prohibits the Division of Motor
Vehicles from suspending or revoking the license a vehicle owner if
the citation is received by the agency more than one year from the
date of the offense.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.