H. B. 2421
(By Delegates Kelley, Jenkins, Hunt and Seacrist)
[Introduced February 9, 1995; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article three, chapter
seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to reducing the fee
for registration of Class A vehicles by two dollars if the
application is submitted through the mail.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article three, chapter seventeen-a of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
§17A-3-3. Application for registration; statement of insurance
or other proof o
f security to accompany
application; criminal penalties; fees; special
revolving fund.
(a) Every owner of a vehicle subject to registration
hereunder shall make application to the department for the registration thereof upon the appropriate form or forms furnished
by the department and every such application shall bear the
signature of the owner or his authorized agent, written with pen
and ink, and said application shall contain:
(1) The name, bona fide residence and mailing address of the
owner, the county in which he resides, or business address of the
owner if a firm, association or corporation.
(2) A description of the vehicle including, insofar as the
hereinafter specified data may exist with respect to a given
vehicle, the make, model, type of body, the manufacturer's serial
or identification number or other number as determined by the
commissioner.
(3) In the event a motor vehicle is designed, constructed,
converted or rebuilt for the transportation of property, the
application shall include a statement of its declared gross
weight if such motor vehicle is to be used alone, or if such
motor vehicle is to be used in combination with other vehicles,
the application for registration of such motor vehicle shall
include a statement of the combined declared gross weight of such
motor vehicle and the vehicles to be drawn by such motor vehicle;
declared gross weight being the weight declared by the owner to
be the actual combined weight of the vehicle or combination of
vehicles and load when carrying the maximum load which the owner
intends to place thereon; and the application for registration of each such vehicle shall also include a statement of the distance
between the first and last axles of that vehicle or combination
of vehicles. The declared gross weight stated in the application
shall not exceed the permissible gross weight for the axle
spacing listed therein as determined by the table of permissible
gross weights contained in chapter seventeen-c of this code; and
any vehicle registered for a declared gross weight as stated in
the application shall be subject to the single-axle load limit
set forth in chapter seventeen-c of this code.
(4) Each such applicant shall state whether such vehicle is
or is not to be used in the public transportation of passengers
or property, or both, for compensation, and if so used, or to be
used, the applicants shall so certify, and shall, as a condition
precedent to the registration of such vehicle, obtain a
certificate of convenience, or permit from the public service
commission.
(5) A statement under penalty of false swearing that
liability insurance is in effect within limits which shall be no
less than the requirement of section two, article four, chapter
seventeen-d of this code, which statement shall contain the name
of the applicant's insurer, the name of the agent or agency which
issued the policy and the effective date of the policy, and such
other information as may be required by the commissioner of motor
vehicles, or that the applicant has qualified as a self-insurer meeting the requirements of section two, article six, chapter
seventeen-d of the code and that as a self-insurer he has
complied with the minimum security requirements as established in
section two, article four of said chapter seventeen-d, or that
such applicant has submitted bond or other security approved by
the commissioner of motor vehicles which shall provide the
equivalent of the policy of insurance herein specified, or that
the applicant has submitted the required cash or other securities
with the state treasurer as set forth in the provisions of
section sixteen, article four of said chapter seventeen-d of this
code.
In the case of a periodic use or seasonal vehicle, as defined
in section three, article two-a, chapter seventeen-d, the owner
may provide, in lieu of other statements required by this
section, a statement, under penalty of false swearing, that
liability insurance is in effect during the portion of the year
the vehicle is in actual use, within limits which shall be no
less than the requirements of section two, article four, chapter
seventeen-d of this code, and other information relating to the
seasonal use, on a form designed and provided by the department.
The department shall periodically select for verification, on
a random sample basis, not fewer than one percent of the
statements of liability insurance required by this section.
When a statement is selected for verification, the department shall forward the information provided on the statement to the
listed insurer. The insurer shall notify the department, by such
form as the commissioner may require, within thirty calendar days
if the liability insurance is not in effect, as required by this
section.
The department may select for verification any statement of
liability insurance submitted by a person who has previously been
convicted of violating the provisions of section three, article
two-a, chapter seventeen-d of this code, or whose statements of
liability insurance have previously been found to be incorrect.
The department may also determine the correctness of information
relating to proof of other security satisfying the requirements
of this section.
If the department determines through the verification process
that there is no liability insurance in effect, then within
fifteen days of receipt of notice from the insurer, the
commissioner of motor vehicles shall inform the registrant that
the department of motor vehicles has received the notice from the
insurer. This information shall be sent by regular mail and
shall request verification of insurance or a statement from the
registrant, under penalty of false swearing, that cancellation
will not result in the operation of an uninsured vehicle upon the
highways of this state, and this verification shall be returned
to the commissioner within twenty days of the date of mailing. Following the twenty-day period, if the registrant has not
responded, then the commissioner shall send a notice of pending
suspension to the registrant by certified mail. The notice of
pending suspension shall grant the registrant an additional
twenty days from the date of the mailing to provide verification
of insurance or other requested information to the commissioner.
Following this twenty-day period, an order of suspension shall be
directed to the superintendent by the commissioner as provided in
section seven, article nine, chapter seventeen-a of this code:
Provided, That whenever the commissioner determines that the
vehicle was actually insured despite the receipt of a notice from
the insurer, and the registrant, under penalty of false swearing
produces a statement that cancellation will not result in the
operation of an uninsured vehicle upon the highways of this
state, or produces verification of insurance, suspension shall be
withdrawn and any fees collected by the state shall be returned.
The registrant shall be given notice and afforded an opportunity
for hearing and judicial review thereof in accordance with the
provisions of subsection (c), section seven, article two, chapter
seventeen-d of this code.
If any person making an application required under the
provisions of this section, therein knowingly provides false
information, false proof of security or a false statement of
insurance, or if any person, including an applicant's insurance agent, knowingly counsels, advises, aids or abets another in
providing false information, false proof of security, or a false
statement of insurance in such application, he is guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
more than five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned in the county
jail for a period not to exceed fifteen days, or both fined and
imprisoned, and in addition to such fine or imprisonment shall
have his operator's or chauffeur's license and vehicle
registration suspended for a period of six months.
(6) Such further information as may reasonably be required by
the department to enable it to determine whether the vehicle is
lawfully entitled to registration.
(7) Each such application for registration shall be
accompanied by the fees hereafter provided, and an additional fee
of one dollar for each motor vehicle for which the applicant
seeks registration, such fee to except that the fee for initial
or renewed registration of Class A vehicles shall be two dollars
less than is otherwise required if the application is submitted
through the United States Postal Service. The additional fee of
one dollar per vehicle as provided for above shall be deposited
in a special revolving fund for the operation by the department
of its functions established by the provisions of article two-a,
chapter seventeen-d of this code: Provided, That on the first
day of July, one one thousand nine hundred eighty-five, the additional fee will reduce be reduced to and remain at fifty
cents.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a discount of
two dollars for persons who obtain or renew their Class A vehicle
registration through the mail.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that
would be added.