SENATE
HOUSE
JOINT
BILL STATUS
STATE LAW
REPORTS
EDUCATIONAL
CONTACT
home
home
Introduced Version Senate Bill 622 History

   |  Email
Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted

FISCAL NOTEWEST virginia legislature

2018 regular session

Introduced

Senate Bill 622

By Senator Boso

[Introduced February 19, 2018; Referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance]

A BILL to amend and reenact §17C-15-49 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to imposing additional costs on violations of statutes requiring safety-belt usage in motor vehicles; creating a special revenue fund in the State Treasury to be known as the Emergency Medical Services Equipment and Training Fund; specifying the purposes for which amounts in the fund may be expended; providing that balances in the fund at the end of a fiscal year do not revert to the General Revenue Fund; and authorizing the Office of Emergency Medical Services to expend amounts deposited into the fund.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:


ARTICLE 15. EQUIPMENT.


§17C-15-49. Operation of vehicles with safety belts; exception; penalty; civil actions; educational program by West Virginia State Police.

(a) A person may not operate a passenger vehicle on a public street or highway of this state unless the person, any passenger in the back seat under 18 years of age, and any passenger in the front seat of the passenger vehicle is restrained by a safety belt meeting applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards. For the purposes of this section, the term “passenger vehicle” means a motor vehicle which is designed for transporting ten passengers or less, including the driver, except that the term does not include a motorcycle, a trailer, or any motor vehicle which is not required on the date of the enactment of this section under a federal motor vehicle safety standard to be equipped with a belt system. The provisions of this section apply to all passenger vehicles manufactured after January 1, 1967, and being 1968 models and newer.

(b) The required use of safety belts as provided herein does not apply to a duly appointed or contracted rural mail carrier of the United States Postal Service who is actually making mail deliveries or to a passenger or operator with a physically disabling condition whose physical disability would prevent appropriate restraint in the safety belt if the condition is duly certified by a physician who states the nature of the disability as well as the reason the restraint is inappropriate. The Division of Motor Vehicles shall adopt rules, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 29A of this code, to establish a method to certify the physical disability and to require use of an alternative restraint system where feasible or to waive the requirement for the use of any restraint system.

(c) Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be fined $25. No court costs or other fees may be assessed for a violation of this section: Provided, That for any conviction of a violation of the provisions of this section, the circuit court, magistrate court, or municipal court shall impose a court cost in the amount of $10. The costs collected shall be deposited into a special revenue fund to be known as the Emergency Medical Services Equipment and Training Grant Fund within the State Treasury. Expenditures from the fund by the Office of Emergency Medical Services, Bureau for Public Health, Department of Health and Human Resources are authorized from collections. The fund may only be used for purposes of providing grants to equip and train emergency medical service personnel or emergency medical service providers, as defined in §16-4C-3 of this code. Any balance remaining in the fund at the end of any fiscal year does not revert to the General Revenue Fund, but remains in the Emergency Medical Services Equipment and Training Grant Fund.

(d) A violation of this section is not admissible as evidence of negligence or contributory negligence or comparative negligence in any civil action or proceeding for damages, and is not admissible in mitigation of damages: Provided, That the court may, upon motion of the defendant, conduct an in camera hearing to determine whether an injured party's failure to wear a safety belt was a proximate cause of the injuries complained of. Upon a finding by the court, the court may then, in a jury trial, by special interrogatory to the jury, determine: (1) That the injured party failed to wear a safety belt; and (2) that the failure to wear the safety belt constituted a failure to mitigate damages. The trier of fact may reduce the injured party's recovery for medical damages by an amount not to exceed five percent thereof. In the event the plaintiff stipulates to the reduction of five percent of medical damages, the court shall make the calculations and the issue of mitigation of damages for failure to wear a safety belt may not be presented to the jury. In all cases, the actual computation of the dollar amount reduction shall be determined by the court.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, no points may be entered on any driver's record maintained by the Division of Motor Vehicles as a result of a violation of this section.

(f) The Governor's Highway Safety Program, in cooperation with the West Virginia State Police and any other state departments or agencies and with county and municipal law-enforcement agencies, shall initiate and conduct an educational program designed to encourage compliance with safety belt usage laws. This program shall be focused on the effectiveness of safety belts, the monetary savings and the other benefits to the public from usage of safety belts and the requirements and penalties specified in this law.

(g) Nothing contained in this section abrogates or alters the provisions of §17C-15-46 of this code relating to the mandatory use of child passenger safety devices.


 

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to impose additional court costs of $10 on violators of statutes requiring safety belt usage, to be used to provide grants to equip and train emergency medical service personnel or emergency medical service providers.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.

This Web site is maintained by the West Virginia Legislature's Office of Reference & Information.  |  Terms of Use  |   Email WebmasterWebmaster   |   © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **


X

Print On Demand

Name:
Email:
Phone:

Print