ENROLLED
H. B. 2274
(By Delegates Williams, Everson, Stalnaker,
Willison, Warner, Houston and Marshall)
[Passed February 22, 1999; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact sections one and six, article two,
chapter seventeen-b of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating
to authorizing the division of motor vehicles to add an
optional classification on drivers license for diabetics;
and eliminating the jail penalty for driving a motor vehicle
without possessing a valid driver's license.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections one and six, article two, chapter seventeen-b
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 2. ISSUANCE OF LICENSE, EXPIRATION AND RENEWAL.
§17B-2-1. Drivers must be licensed; types of licenses; licensees
need not obtain local government license; motorcycle driver license; identification cards.
(a) No person, except those hereinafter expressly exempted,
may drive any motor vehicle upon a street or highway in this
state or upon any subdivision street, as used in article
twenty-four, chapter eight of this code, when the use of such
subdivision street is generally used by the public unless the
person has a valid driver's license under the provisions of this
code for the type or class of vehicle being driven.
Any person licensed to operate a motor vehicle as provided
in this code may exercise the privilege thereby granted as
provided in this code and, except as otherwise provided by law,
shall not be required to obtain any other license to exercise
such privilege by any county, municipality or local board or body
having authority to adopt local police regulations.
(b) The division, upon issuing a driver's license, shall
indicate on the license the type or general class or classes of
vehicle or vehicles the licensee may operate in accordance with
the provisions of this code, federal law or rule.
(c) Driver's licenses issued by the division shall be
classified in the following manner:
(1) Class A, B or C license shall be issued to those persons
eighteen years of age or older with two years driving experience and who have qualified for the commercial driver's license
established by chapter seventeen-e of this code and the federal
Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986, Title XII of public
law 99870 and subsequent rules, and have paid the required fee.
(2) Class D license shall be issued to those persons
eighteen years and older with one year driving experience who
operate motor vehicles other than those types of vehicles which
require the operator to be licensed under the provisions of
chapter seventeen-e of this code and federal law and rule and
whose primary function or employment is the transportation of
persons or property for compensation or wages and have paid the
required fee. For the purposes of the regulation of the
operation of a motor vehicle, wherever the term chauffeur's
license is used in this code, it shall be construed to mean the
Class A, B, C or D license described in this section or chapter
seventeen-e of this code or federal law or rule: Provided, That
anyone who is not required to be licensed under the provisions of
chapter seventeen-e of this code and federal law or rule and who
operates a motor vehicle which is registered or which is required
to be registered as a Class A motor vehicle as that term is
defined in section one, article ten, chapter seventeen-a of this
code with a gross vehicle weight rating of less than eight thousand one pounds, is not required to obtain a Class D license.
(3) Class E license shall be issued to those persons who
have qualified under the provisions of this chapter and who are
not required to obtain a Class A, B, C or D license and who have
paid the required fee. The Class E license may be endorsed under
the provisions of section seven-b of this article for motorcycle
operation.
(4) Class F license shall be issued to those persons who
successfully complete the motorcycle examination procedure
provided for by this chapter and have paid the required fee, but
who do not possess a Class A, B, C and D or E driver's license.
(5) All licenses issued under this section may contain
information designating the licensee as a diabetic, if the
licensee requests this information to be on the license.
(d) No person, except those hereinafter expressly exempted,
shall drive any motorcycle upon a street or highway in this state
or upon any subdivision street, as used in article twenty-four,
chapter eight of this code, when the use of such subdivision
street is generally used by the public unless the person has a
valid motorcycle license or a valid license which has been
endorsed under section seven-b of this article for motorcycle
operation or has a valid motorcycle instruction permit.
(e) (1) A nonoperator identification card may be issued to
any person who:
(A) Is a resident of this state in accordance with the
provisions of section one-a, article three, chapter seventeen-a
of this code;
(B) Does not have a valid driver's license;
(C) Has reached the age of sixteen years;
(D) Has paid the required fee of ten dollars: Provided,
That such fee is not required if the applicant is sixty-five
years or older or is legally blind; and
(E) Presents a birth certificate or other proof of age and
identity acceptable to the division with a completed application
on a form furnished by the division.
(2) The nondriver identification card shall contain the same
information as a driver's license except that such identification
card shall be clearly marked as identification card. The
identification card shall expire every four years. It may be
renewed on application and payment of the fee required by this
section.
(A) After the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-six, every identification card issued to persons
who have attained their twenty-first birthday shall expire on the last day of the month in which the applicant's birthday occurs in
those years in which the applicant's age is evenly divisible by
five. Except as provided in paragraph (B) of this subdivision,
no identification card may be issued for less than three years
nor more than seven years and such identification card shall be
renewed in the month in which the applicant's birthday occurs and
shall be valid for a period of five years expiring in the month
in which the applicant's birthday occurs and in a year in which
the applicant's age is evenly divisible by five.
(B) Every identification card issued to persons who have not
attained their twenty-first birthday shall expire on the last day
of the month in the year in which the applicant attains the age
of twenty-one years.
(3) The identification card shall be surrendered to the
division when the holder is issued a driver's license. The
division may issue an identification card to an applicant whose
privilege to operate a motor vehicle has been refused, canceled,
suspended or revoked under the provisions of this code.
(f) Any person violating the provisions of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not more than five hundred dollars; and upon a second or
subsequent conviction, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or confined in the county or regional jail not more than
six months, or both.
§17B-2-6. Application for license or instruction permit; fee to
accompany application.
Every application for an instruction permit or for a
driver's license shall be made upon a form furnished by the
division. Every application shall be accompanied by the proper
fee and payment of such fee shall entitle the applicant to not
more than three attempts to pass the examination within a period
of sixty days from the date of application, except that no
applicant may be examined twice within a period of one week.
Every said application shall state the full name, date of
birth, sex, and residence address of the applicant, and briefly
describe the applicant, and shall state whether the applicant has
theretofore been a licensed driver , and, if so, when and by what
state or country, and whether any such license has ever been
suspended or revoked within the five years next preceding the
date of application, or whether an application has ever been
refused, and, if so, the date of and reason for such suspension,
revocation or refusal, whether the applicant desires a notation
on the drivers license indicating that the applicant is a
diabetic,
and such other pertinent information as the commissioner may require.