H. B. 2531
(By Delegates Spencer and Palumbo)
[Introduced
January 25, 2007
; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §17B-2-1 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to drivers' licenses generally;
providing for the issuance of drivers' licenses to persons
using bioptic telescopic lenses; setting conditions and
limitations for licensing; setting driving restrictions; and
providing for other limitations and exceptions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17B-2-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted 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 the 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 the 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. Licenses shall be
issued in different colors for those drivers under age eighteen,
those drivers age eighteen to twenty-one and adult drivers. The
commissioner is authorized to select and assign colors to the
licenses of the various age groups. The commissioner shall
implement color-coded licenses on or before the first day of
January, two thousand one.
(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 99-570 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 of 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. The Class E license for any person under the age of
eighteen may also be endorsed with the appropriate graduated driver
license level in accordance with the provisions of section three-a
of this article.
(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, D or E driver's license.
(5) All licenses issued under this section may contain
information designating the licensee as a diabetic, or as deaf or
hard-of-hearing and for other handicapped or disabled persons in
accordance with criteria established by the division, if the
licensee requests this information 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 the 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) A person using bioptic telescopic lenses is eligible for
a driver's license if he or she meets all of the following
requirements:
(1) Demonstrates a visual acuity of at least 20/200 in one or
both eyes and a field of one hundred ten degrees horizontal vision
without or with corrective carrier lenses, or if he or she has
vision in one eye only, demonstrates a field of at least forty
degrees temporal and thirty degrees nasal horizontal vision.
(2) Demonstrates a visual acuity of at least 20/60 in one or
both eyes with the bioptic telescopic lenses and without the use of
field expanders.
(3) Meets all other criteria for licensure.
(4) Submits, with the license application, a report of
examination by an ophthalmologist or optometrist on a form
prescribed by the office of motor vehicles. The report shall
certify that no ocular diagnosis or prognosis currently exists or
is likely to occur during the period of issuance of the license
which would cause deterioration of visual acuity or visual field to
levels below the minimum standards provided in this section.
(5) Presents proof to the commissioner of motor vehicles of
completion of at least thirty hours of behind-the-wheel training
from a driver education or prelicensing training course which has instructors with advanced education and practice in teaching
individuals who use bioptic lenses, all as approved by the
commissioner.
(6) Successfully passes a comprehensive driver's skills test
which tests the applicant's driving skills over a route
specifically designed to test the applicant's competency using a
bioptic telescopic device.
(f) A person using bioptic telescopic lenses is eligible for
a learner's license, if he or she meets the requirements of
subsection (e) of this section.
(g) A person using bioptic telescopic lenses is subject to the
following restrictions:
(1) He or she is only eligible for a Class "E" driver's
license and he or she is not permitted to operate a motorcycle or
motor scooter.
(2) The person's driver's license shall be restricted to
permit the operation of a motor vehicle only during the period
beginning one-half hour after sunrise and ending one-half hour
before sunset.
(3) He or she is prohibited from driving during adverse
weather conditions which significantly reduce the visibility of the
roadway, other traffic, and traffic control devices.
(h) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (2),
subsection (g) of this section, a person using bioptic telescopic lenses may be licensed to drive a motor vehicle between one-half
hour before sunrise and one-half hour after sunset if he or she
meets all of the following requirements:
(1) Demonstrates a visual acuity of at least 20/40 in one or
both eyes with the bioptic telescopic lenses and without the use of
field expanders.
(2) Has been licensed under subsection (c) of this section for
at least one year.
(3) Passes a skills test taken at night over a route which is
specifically designed to test the applicant's competency using a
bioptic telescopic device.
(4) Drives for twelve months without any at-fault accidents
and without any license suspensions or revocations.
(e)(i) (1) A nondriver 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 two years. The division may also
issue a nondriver identification card to a person under the age of
two years for good cause shown;
(D) Has paid the required fee of two dollars and fifty cents
per year for each year the identification card is issued to be valid:
Provided, That the 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 the identification
card shall be clearly marked as identification card. However, the
division may issue an identification card with less information to
persons under the age of sixteen. It may be renewed on application
and payment of the fee required by this section.
(A) Every identification card issued to persons who have
attained their twenty-first birthday shall expire on the day of the
month designated by the commissioner 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 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 day of the
month designated by the commissioner in the year in which the applicant attains the age of twenty-one years.
(C) Every identification card issued to persons under the age
of sixteen shall expire on the day of the month designated by the
commissioner in which the applicant's birthday occurs and shall be
issued for a period of two 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) (j) 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.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the issuance
of drivers' licenses to persons using bioptic telescopic lenses.
The bill sets conditions, restrictions and limitations for
licensing.
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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