Senate Bill No. 470
(By Senators Yoder, Kessler, Barnes, Guills and Foster)
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[Introduced March 7, 2005; referred to the Committee
on Transportation and Infrastructure; and then to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §17C-14-3, relating
to prohibiting use of a handheld cell phone while driving;
providing exceptions; providing a penalty for violations; and
providing that points may not be assessed against the driver's
license for a violation.
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 section, designated §17C-14-3, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 14. MISCELLANEOUS RULES.
§17C-14-3. Use of cellular telephone while driving prohibited;
penalty; no points may be assessed.
(a) A person may not operate a motor vehicle while using a handheld cellular telephone or similar device requiring the motor
vehicle operator to hold the cellular telephone in one of his or
her hands while driving. The provisions of this section do not
apply to a driver of a motor vehicle who uses a cellular telephone
with a headset or a cellular telephone with a speaker system which
does not require the driver to hold the cellular telephone in his
or her hands while driving.
(b) Any person violating the provisions of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not more than one hundred dollars; upon a second conviction
within one year thereafter, shall be fined not more than two
hundred dollars; and upon a third or subsequent conviction, shall
be fined not more than five hundred dollars.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, no points may be entered on any driver's record
maintained by the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles as a
result of a violation of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
prohibit the use of
handheld cellular telephones while driving and to provide a penalty
for violations
. Under the bill, a person may be fined for a
violation, but no points may be assessed against his or her
driver's license.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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