ENGROSSED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 620
(By Senators White, Love and Bowman)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported March 24, 2005.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §17C-6-7 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to speed-measuring devices;
allowing law-enforcement officers employed by any incorporated
municipality to present as prima facie evidence the speed of
a motor vehicle obtained through the use of microwaves; and
requiring that all law-enforcement officers utilizing speed
measuring devices be certified in their operation.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17C-6-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. SPEED RESTRICTIONS.
§17C-6-7. Prima facie evidence of speed by devices employing
microwaves; placing of signs relative to radar.
The speed of a motor vehicle may be proved by evidence
obtained by use of any device designed to measure and indicate or record the speed of a moving object by means of microwaves, when
such evidence is obtained by members of the
department of public
safety State Police, by police officers of
any incorporated
municipality municipalities in classes one, two and three, as
defined in chapter eight-a of this code, and by the sheriff and his
or her deputies of the several counties of the state:
Provided,
That law-enforcement officers be certified in the operation of
those devices: Provided, however, That speed-measuring devices must
be recalibrated as needed and consistent with the manufacturer's
recommendations. The evidence so obtained shall be accepted as
prima facie evidence of the speed of such vehicle.
Law-enforcement officers must complete forty hours' initial
training in the use of speed-measuring devices. The initial
training must be provided by a state-certified instructor.
Law-enforcement officers who have completed the required initial
training must undergo recertification yearly.
In order to inform and educate the public generally that speed
of motor vehicles operating within the state is being tested by
radar mechanisms, the State Road Commission shall locate and place
suitable and informative stationary and movable signs at strategic
points on and along highways in each county of the state giving
notice to the public that such radar mechanisms are in use.