Senate Bill No. 563
(By Senators D. Miller, Helmick, Ross)
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[Introduced February 19, 1996; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article seven, chapter fifty-five of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
eighteen, relating to actions for injuries; and limiting
liability of nonprofit sponsors of special passenger
excursion trains.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article seven, chapter fifty-five of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
eighteen, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. ACTIONS FOR INJURIES.
§55-7-18. Limiting liability of nonprofit sponsor of special passenger excursion trains; exemption from civil
liability in certain cases; exceptions; definitions.
(a) (1) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the
liability of a nonprofit sponsor of a special passenger excursion
train, the owner or operator of a special passenger excursion
train, and the railroad or rail authority over whose tracks the
special passenger excursion train is operated, for all claims,
whether for compensatory damages or punitive damages, arising
from a rail incident or accident occurring in West Virginia and
involving a special passenger excursion train, shall not exceed
five million dollars.
(2) This section shall not limit the liability of a person
whose intentional misconduct causes a rail incident or accident.
(b) The nonprofit sponsor of a special passenger excursion
train shall maintain insurance coverage of not less than five
million dollars per occurrence with the nonprofit sponsor and the
railroad or rail authority over whose tracks the special
passenger excursion train is operated, as named insureds. The
insurance shall not have a self-insured retention or deductible
greater than one hundred thousand dollars. A nonprofit sponsor
shall provide evidence of the coverage upon demand of the West Virginia commissioner of highways or by the railroad or rail
authority over whose tracks the special passenger excursion train
is to be operated.
(c) As used in this section:
(1) "Nonprofit sponsor" means a nonprofit corporation other
than a railroad or rail authority whose purpose includes the
historic preservation of documents, memorabilia, and equipment
associated with the railroad industry, and public education
regarding the history, current functions, and future of railroad
transportation and which is exclusive to religious, scientific,
literacy or educational within the meaning of 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3)
as amended; and
(2) "Special passenger excursion train" means a train
offered by a nonprofit sponsor to the public for operation over
a common carrier railroad or railroad authority.
(d) Nothing in this section may be construed as requiring
a railroad or rail authority to permit the operation of a special
passenger excursion train over its tracks.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to limit the liability of the nonprofit sponsor of a special passenger excursion train to
$5,000,000.00.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.