H. B. 2781
(By Delegates Michael and Warner)
[Introduced March 7, 2001; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation then the
Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article three, chapter
seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to allowing exempted
motor vehicles that have passed safety inspections to travel
on the highways between sunset and sunrise.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article three, chapter seventeen-a of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. ORIGINAL AND RENEWAL OF REGISTRATION; ISSUANCE OF
CERTIFICATES OF TITLE.
§17A-3-2. Every motor vehicle, etc., subject to registration and
certificate of title provisions; exceptions.
(a) Every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer
and recreational vehicle when driven or moved upon a highway is subject to the registration and certificate of title provisions of
this chapter except:
(1) Any vehicle driven or moved upon a highway in conformance
with the provisions of this chapter relating to manufacturers,
transporters, dealers, lienholders or nonresidents or under a
temporary registration permit issued by the division as authorized
under this chapter;
(2) Any implement of husbandry upon which is securely attached
a machine for spraying fruit trees and plants of the owner or
lessee or for any other implement of husbandry which is used
exclusively for agricultural or horticultural purposes on lands
owned or leased by the owner of the implement and which is not
operated on or over any public highway of this state for any other
purpose other than for the purpose of operating it across a highway
or along a highway other than an expressway as designated by the
commissioner of the division of highways from one point of the
owner's land to another part of the owner's land, irrespective of
whether or not the tracts adjoin: Provided, That the distance
between the points may not exceed twenty-five miles, or for the
purpose of taking it or other fixtures attached to the implement,
to and from a repair shop for repairs. The exemption in this
subdivision from registration and license requirements also applies
to any vehicle described in this subsection or to any farm trailer
owned by the owner or lessee of the farm on which the trailer is used, when the trailer is used by the owner of the trailer for the
purpose of moving farm produce and livestock from the farm along a
public highway for a distance not to exceed twenty-five miles to a
storage house or packing plant, when the use is a seasonal
operation:
(A) The exemptions contained in this section also apply to
farm machinery and tractors: Provided, That the machinery and
tractors may use the highways in going from one tract of land to
another tract of land regardless of whether the land is owned by
the same or different persons;
(B) Any vehicle exempted under this subsection from the
requirements of annual registration certificate and license plates
and fees for the registration certificate and license plate may not
use the highways between sunset and sunrise: Provided, That any
vehicle exempted under this subsection from the requirements of
annual registration certificates and license plates that has been
inspected and passed safety inspection pursuant to chapter
seventeen-c of this code, may use the highways between sunset and
sunrise in going from one tract of land to another tract of land
regardless of whether the land is owned by the same or a different
person, a distance not to exceed twenty-five miles;
(C) Any vehicle exempted under this section from the
requirements of annual registration certificate and license plates
may use the highways as provided in this section whether the exempt vehicle is self-propelled, towed by another exempt vehicle or towed
by another vehicle required to be registered;
(D) Any vehicle used as an implement of husbandry exempt under
this section shall have the words "farm use" affixed to both sides
of the implement in ten inch letters. Any vehicle which would be
subject to registration as a Class A or B vehicle if not exempted
by this section shall display a farm-use exemption certificate on
the lower driver's side of the windshield:
(i) The farm-use exemption certificate shall be provided by
the commissioner and shall be issued annually by the assessor of
the applicant's county of residence. The assessor shall issue a
farm-use exemption certificate to the applicant upon his or her
determination pursuant to an examination of the property books or
documentation provided by the applicant that the vehicle has been
properly assessed as Class I personal property. The assessor shall
charge a fee of two dollars for each certificate, which shall be
retained by the assessor;
(ii) A farm-use exemption certificate shall not exempt the
applicant from maintaining the security required by chapter
seventeen-d of this code on any vehicle being operated on the roads
or highways of this state;
(iii) No person charged with the offense of operating a
vehicle without a farm-use exemption certificate, if required under
this section, may be convicted of the offense if he or she produces in court, or in the office of the arresting officer, a valid
farm-use exemption certificate for the vehicle in question within
five days;
(3) Any vehicle which is propelled exclusively by electric
power obtained from overhead trolley wires though not operated upon
rails;
(4) Any vehicle of a type subject to registration which is
owned by the government of the United States;
(5) Any wrecked or disabled vehicle towed by a licensed
wrecker or dealer on the public highways of this state;
(6) The following recreational vehicles are exempt from the
requirements of annual registration, license plates and fees,
unless otherwise specified by law, but are subject to the
certificate of title provisions of this chapter regardless of
highway use: Motorboats, all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles; and
(7) Any special mobile equipment as defined in subsection (r),
section one, article one of this chapter.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section:
(1) Mobile homes or manufactured homes are exempt from the
requirements of annual registration, license plates and fees;
(2) House trailers may be registered and licensed; and
(3) Factory-built homes are subject to the certificate of
title provisions of this chapter.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to permit farm vehicles
exempted from annual registration certificates and license plates
that have passed motor vehicle inspection to use the highways
between sunset and sunrise.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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