H. B. 2655
(By Delegate Michael, By Request)
[Introduced March 20, 1997; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article two, chapter
seventeen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to instruction
permits issued by the division of motor vehicles and
providing that the section does not require all applicants
to first secure an instruction permit before obtaining a
regular driver's license or junior driver's license.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article two, chapter seventeen-b of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. ISSUANCE OF LICENSE, EXPIRATION AND RENEWAL.
§17B-2-5. Qualifications, issuance and fee for instruction permits.
(a) Any person who is at least fifteen years of age may apply
to the division for an instruction permit. The division may, in
its discretion, after the applicant has appeared before the
department of public safety state police and successfully passed
all parts of the examination other than the driving test and
presented documentation of compliance with the provisions of
section eleven, article eight, chapter eighteen of this code,
issue to the applicant an instruction permit which shall entitle
the applicant while having such the permit in such the person's
immediate possession to drive a motor vehicle upon the public
highways when accompanied by a licensed driver of at least
twenty-one years of age or a driver's education or driving school
instructor that is acting in an official capacity as an
instructor, who is occupying a seat beside the driver, except in
the event the permittee is operating a motorcycle, but in no
event shall the permittee be allowed to operate a motorcycle upon
a public highway until reaching sixteen years of age.
Any such instruction permit issued to a person under the age
of sixteen years shall expire sixty days after the permittee
reaches sixteen years of age: Provided, That only permittees who
have reached their sixteenth birthday are eligible to take the
driving examination as provided in section six of this article.
The instruction permit may be renewed for one additional period
of sixty days. Any such permit issued to a person who has reached the age of sixteen years shall be valid for a period of
sixty days and may be renewed for an additional period of sixty
days or a new permit issued. The fee for such instruction permit
shall be four dollars, one dollar of which shall be paid into the
state treasury and credited to the state road fund, and the other
three dollars of which shall be paid into the state treasury and
credited to the general fund to be appropriated to the department
of public safety state police for application in the enforcement
of the road law.
(b) Any person sixteen years of age or older may apply to the
division for a motorcycle instruction permit. The division of
motor vehicles may, in its discretion, after the applicant has
appeared before the division of public safety state police and
successfully passed all parts of the motorcycle examination other
than the driving test, and presented documentation of compliance
with the provisions of section eleven, article eight, chapter
eighteen of this code, issue to the applicant an instruction
permit which entitles the applicant while having such the permit
in such person's immediate possession to drive a motorcycle upon
the public streets or highways for a period of ninety days,
during the daylight hours between sunrise and sunset only. No
holder of a motorcycle instruction permit shall operate a
motorcycle while carrying any passenger on the vehicle.
A motorcycle instruction permit is not renewable, but a qualified applicant may apply for a new permit. The fee for a
motorcycle instruction permit shall be five dollars, which shall
be paid into a special fund in the state treasury known as the
motorcycle license examination fund as established in section
seven-c, article two of this chapter.
(c) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed or
interpreted as requiring any person to first comply with the
provisions of this section before first applying for a regular
driver's license issued under section one of this article or a
junior driver's license issued under section three-a of this
article if they are otherwise eligible for a regular driver's
license or junior driver's license.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to eliminate the confusion
which has occurred as to whether all applicants for a driver's
license have to first secure an instruction permit.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that
would be added.