SB 444 Text

ENGROSSED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR

Senate Bill No. 444
(By Senators Unger and Hunter)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported March 24, 2005.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated §17C-4A-1, §17C-4A-2 and §17C-4A-3, all relating to careless driving which causes the unintentional death or serious bodily injury of another person generally; defining "serious bodily injury"; providing enhanced criminal penalties for violations of chapter seventeen of said code; and providing assessment of an additional three points against the driver's license of a person convicted of a violation which causes the unintentional death or serious bodily injury of another person by the Commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated §17C-4A-1, §17C-4A-2 and §17C-4A-3, all to read as follows:

ARTICLE 4A. CARELESS DRIVING CAUSING UNINTENTIONAL DEATH OR SERIOUS BODILY INJURY TO ANOTHER PERSON.

§17C-4A-1. Definitions.
As used in this article:
"Serious bodily injury" means any bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious, permanent disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of function of any bodily member or organ.

§17C-4A-2. Enhanced penalties for careless driving causing unintentional death or serious bodily injury to another person; penalties .

Any person who drives any vehicle upon any street or highway, or upon any residential street, or in any parking area, or upon the ways of any institution of higher education, whether public or private, or upon the ways of any state institution, or upon the property of any county boards of education, or upon any property within the State Park and Public Recreation System established by the Director of the Division of Natural Resources pursuant to section three, article four, chapter twenty of this code who is found beyond a reasonable doubt to have both violated a provision of chapter seventeen of this code and also to have acted in the absence of due care and attention, which violation of statute and absence of due care and attention, in combination, proximately caused a serious bodily injury or unintentional death, shall, upon conviction of the violation, be both fined up to an additional two thousand dollars and be assessed three additional points against the person's driver's license.
§17C-4A-3. Exceptions.
The provisions of this section do not apply to those areas which have been temporarily closed for racing sport events or which may be set aside by the Director of the Division of Natural Resources within the State Park and Recreation System for exclusive use by motorcycles or other recreational vehicles.

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