Senate Bill No. 212
(By Senators Rowe, Kessler and Caldwell)
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[Introduced January 19, 2004; referred to the Committee on
Transportation; and then to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §17C-17-6 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, 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 §17C-17-6 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, 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 the 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.