H. B. 2851
(By Delegates Anderson, Border, Stalnaker, Williams, Warner, Mezzatesta and Ennis)
[Introduced March 28, 1997; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section six, article thirteen,
chapter seventeen-c of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
expanding fraud provisions; parking privileges for persons
with a mobility impairments; increasing the fines when fraud
occurs as defined in this section; and providing additional
issuance and use provisions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section six, article thirteen, chapter seventeen-c of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 13. STOPPING, STANDING AND PARKING.
§17C-13-6. Stopping, standing or parking privileges for persons
with a mobility impairment; definitions; qualification; special registration plates and removable windshield placards; expiration; application; violation; penalties.
(a) Any owner of a Class A motor vehicle subject to registration
under the provisions of article three, chapter seventeen-a of
this code, who is:
(a) (1) A person with a mobility impairment
(2) A relative of a person with a mobility impairment;
(3) A person who regularly resides with a person with a
mobility impairment; or
(4) A person who regularly transports a person who has a
mobility impairment, may submit an application for a special
registration plate or a removable windshield placard;
(b) Any A person with a mobility impairment, any relative of
a person with a mobility impairment, any person who regularly
resides with a person with a mobility impairment or any person
who regularly transports a person who has a mobility impairment
may submit an application for a removable windshield placard for
a Class A vehicle by submitting to the commissioner: or
(c) A West Virginia organization which transports persons
with disabilities and will facilitate the mobility of the
organization's customers, patients, students or persons
otherwise placed under the responsibility or the organization may
submit an application for a removable windshield placard for a
vehicle by submitting it to the commissioner.
(1) An application on a form prescribed and furnished by the
commissioner, specifying whether the applicant desires a special
registration plate, a removable windshield placard, or both; and
(2) A certificate issued by a licensed physician stating
that the applicant or the applicant's relative is a person with a mobility impairment, or that the person regularly residing with
the applicant or regularly transported by the applicant is a
person with a mobility impairment, as defined in this section,
and furthermore, the physician shall specify whether the
disability is temporary (not to exceed six months) or permanent
(one to five years or more in expected duration).
Upon receipt of the completed application, the physician's
certificate and the regular registration fee for the applicant's
vehicle class, if the commissioner finds that the applicant
qualifies for the special registration plate or a removable
windshield placard as provided in this section, he or she shall
issue to the applicant a special registration plate (upon
remittance of the regular registration fee), or a removable
windshield placard (red for temporary and blue for permanent), or
both. Upon request, the commissioner shall also issue to any
otherwise qualified applicant one additional placard having the
same expiration date as the applicant's original placard. The
placard shall be displayed by hanging it from the interior rear
view mirror of the motor vehicle so that it is conspicuously
visible from outside the vehicle when parked in a designated
handicapped parking space. The placard may shall be removed from
the rear view mirror whenever the vehicle is being operated to
ensure clear vision and safe driving. Only in the event that
there is no rear view mirror in the vehicle may the placard be
displayed on the dashboard of the vehicle.
(c) (d) As used in this section, the following terms have
the meanings ascribed to them in this subsection:
(1) A person or applicant with a "mobility impairment" means
a person who is a citizen of West Virginia and as determined by
a licensed physician, allopath or osteopath licensed to practice
in West Virginia:
(A) Cannot walk two hundred feet without stopping to rest;
(B) Cannot walk without the use of or assistance from a
brace, cane, crutch, prosthetic device, wheelchair, other
assistive device or another person;
(C) Is restricted by lung disease to such an extent that the
person's force (respiratory) expiratory volume for one second,
when measured by spirometry, is less than one liter or the
arterial oxygen tension is less than sixty mm/hg on room air at
rest;
(D) Uses portable oxygen;
(E) Has a cardiac condition to such an extent that the
person's functional limitations are classified in severity as
Class III or Class IV according to standards established by the
American heart association; or
(F) Is severely limited in his or her ability to walk
because of an arthritic, neurological or other orthopedic or
other physical condition.
(2) "Special registration plate" means a registration plate
that displays the international symbol of access in a color that
contrasts with the background, in letters and numbers the same
size as those on the plate, and which may be used in lieu of a
regular registration plate.
(3) "Removable windshield placard" (permanent or temporary) means a two-sided, hanger style placard measuring three inches by
nine and one-half inches, with all of the following on each side:
(A) The international symbol of access, measuring at least
three inches in height, centered on the placard, in white on a
blue or red background;
(B) An identification number measuring one inch in height;
(C) An expiration date in numbers measuring one inch in
height; and
(D) The seal or other identifying symbol of the issuing
authority.
(4) "Regular registration fee" means the standard
registration fee for a vehicle of the same class as the
applicant's.
(5) "Public entity" means state or local government or any
department, agency, special purpose district or other
instrumentality of a state or local government.
(6) "Public facility" means all or any part of any
buildings, structures, sites, complexes, roads, parking lots or
other real or personal property, including the site where the
facility is located.
(7) "Place(s) of public accommodation" means a facility or
facilities operated by a private entity whose operations affect
commerce and fall within at least one of the following
categories:
(A) Inns, hotels, motels and other places of lodging;
(B) Restaurants, bars or other establishments serving food
or drink;
(C) Motion picture houses, theaters, concert halls, stadiums
or other places of exhibition or entertainment;
(D) Auditoriums, convention centers, lecture halls or other
places of public gatherings;
(E) Bakeries, grocery stores, clothing stores, hardware
stores, shopping centers or other sales or rental establishments;
(F) Laundromats, dry cleaners, banks, barber and beauty
shops, travel agencies, shoe repair shops, funeral parlors, gas
or service stations, offices of accountants and attorneys,
pharmacies, insurance offices, offices of professional health
care providers, hospitals or other service establishments;
(G) Terminals, depots or other stations used for public
transportation;
(H) Museums, libraries, galleries or other places of public
display or collection;
(I) Parks, zoos, amusement parks or other places of
recreation;
(J) Public or private nursery, elementary, secondary,
undergraduate or post-graduate schools or other places of
learning and day care centers, senior citizen centers, homeless
shelters, food banks, adoption agencies or other social services
establishments; and
(K) Gymnasiums, health spas, bowling alleys, golf courses or
other places of exercise or recreation.
(8) "Commercial facility" means a facility whose operations
affect commerce and which are intended for nonresidential use by
a private entity.
Any person who falsely or fraudulently obtains or seeks to
obtain the special plate or the removable windshield placard
provided for in this section, and any person or physician who
falsely certifies that a person is mobility impaired in order
that an applicant may be issued the a special registration plate
or windshield placard hereunder, is guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction thereof, in addition to any other penalty he or
she may otherwise incur, shall be fined one hundred two hundred
fifty dollars.
Any person who fabricates, uses or sells unofficially issued
windshield placards to any person or organization is committing
a fraudulent act and is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, in addition to any other penalty he, she or
they may otherwise incur, shall be fined five hundred dollars.
Any person who fabricates, uses or sells unofficially issued
identification cards to any person or organization is committing
a fraudulent act and is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, in addition to any other penalty he, she or
they may otherwise incur, shall be fined five hundred dollars.
Any person or organization who fabricates, uses or sells
unofficially issued labels imprinted with a future expiration
date for use on windshield placards to any person rather than
receiving official labels from the commissioner is committing a
fraudulent act and is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, in addition to any other penalty he, she or
they may otherwise incur, shall be fined five hundred dollars.
(d) (e) The commissioner shall set the expiration date for special registration plates and permanent removable windshield
placards on the last day of a given month and year, to be valid
for a minimum of one year but not more than five years, after
which time a new application must be submitted to the
commissioner. After the commissioner receives the new
application, signed by a certified physician, the commissioner
shall issue: (iI) A new special registration plate or new
permanent removable windshield placard; or (ii) official labels
imprinted with the new expiration date and designed so as to be
placed over the old dates on the original registration plate or
windshield placard.
(e) (f) The commissioner shall set the expiration date of
temporary removable windshield placards to be valid for a period
of approximately six months after the application was received
and approved by the commissioner.
(f) (g) The commissioner shall issue to each applicant who
is granted a special registration plate or windshield placard an
identification card bearing the applicant's name, assigned
identification number and expiration date. The identification
card must be identical, in design, for both special registration
plates and removable windshield placards. The applicant must
thereafter carry this identification card on his or her person
whenever parking in a handicapped parking space.
(g) (h) A handicapped parking space should comply with the
provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act Guidelines,
contained in 28 C.F.R. 36, Appendix A, Section 4.6. In
particular, the parking space should be a minimum of eight feet wide with an adjacent eight foot access aisle for vans having
side mounted handicap lifts. Access aisles should be marked
using diagonal stripes or other appropriate markings denoting
that the space is a no-parking zone. Lines or markings on the
pavement or curbs for parking spaces and access aisles may be in
any color, although blue is the generally accepted color for
handicapped parking.
(h) (iI) A vehicle from any other state, United States
territory or foreign country displaying an officially issued
special registration plate, placard or decal bearing the
international symbol of access, shall be recognized and accepted
as meeting the requirements of this section, regardless of where
the plate, placard or decal is mounted or displayed on the
vehicle.
(iI) (j) Free stopping, standing or parking places marked
with the international symbol of access shall be designated in
close proximity to all public entities, including state, county
and municipal buildings and facilities, places of public
accommodation and commercial facilities. These parking places
shall be reserved solely for persons with a mobility impairment
three hundred sixty-five days a year including holidays. during
the hours that those buildings are open for business.
(j) (k) Any person whose vehicle properly displays a valid,
unexpired special registration plate or removable windshield
placard may park the vehicle for unlimited periods of time in
parking zones unrestricted as to length of parking time
permitted: Provided, That this privilege does not mean that the vehicle may park in any zone where stopping, standing or parking
is prohibited or which creates parking zones for special types of
vehicles or which prohibits parking during heavy traffic periods
during specified rush hours or where parking would clearly
present a traffic hazard. To the extent any provision of any
ordinance of any political subdivision of this state is contrary
to the provisions of this section, the provisions of this section
take precedence and apply.
The privileges provided for in this subsection apply only
during those times when the vehicle is being used for the
transportation of a person with a mobility impairment. Any
person who knowingly exercises, or attempts to exercise, these
privileges at a time when the vehicle is not being used for the
transportation of a person with a mobility impairment is guilty
of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, in addition to any
other penalty he or she may otherwise incur, shall be fined one
two hundred fifty dollars.
(k) (l) No person may stop, stand or park a motor vehicle in
an area designated, zoned or marked for handicapped parking with
signs or instructions displaying the international symbol of
access, either by itself or with explanatory text. Such signs
may be mounted on a post or a wall in front of the handicapped
parking space and instructions may appear on the ground or
pavement, but use of both methods is preferred. Handicapped
parking spaces for vans having an eight-foot adjacent access
aisle should be designated as "van accessible" but may be used by
any vehicle displaying a valid special registration plate or removable windshield placard. These spaces are intended solely
for persons with a mobility impairment, as defined in this
section. If at any time, a person is not mobility impaired and
does not display upon his or her vehicle a special registration
plate or removable windshield placard issued by the commissioner,
he or she may not lawfully park in a handicapped parking space:
Provided, That any person in the act of transporting a person
with a mobility impairment as defined in this section, may stop,
stand or park a motor vehicle not displaying a special
registration plate or removable windshield placard in the area
designated for handicapped parking by the international symbol of
access for the limited purposes of loading or unloading a
passenger with a mobility impairment: Provided, however, That
the vehicle shall be promptly moved after the completion of this
limited purpose.
Any person who violates the provisions of this subsection is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined one two hundred fifty dollars.
(l) (m) Signs erected in the future that designate areas as
"handicapped parking" or that display the international symbol of
access shall also include the words "$250 fine".
(m) (n) No person may stop, stand or park a motor vehicle in
an area designated or marked off as an access aisle adjacent to
a van-accessible parking space or regular handicapped parking
space. Any person, including a driver of a vehicle displaying a
valid removable windshield placard or special registration plate,
who violates the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined one two
hundred fifty dollars.
(n) (o) The commissioner shall establish a grace period for
individuals who, on the effective date of the amendment adding
this subsection, hold special registration plates or removable
windshield placards bearing no expiration date to submit their
applications for newly issued special registration plates and
windshield placards, after which time any undated registration
plate or windshield placard is invalid and subject to
confiscation by any duly appointed law-enforcement officer.
include along with the issued registration plate or windshield
placard, a document describing the privileges accorded a vehicle
having a special registration plate and removable windshield
placard and the penalties when such vehicle is being
inappropriately used as described in the above sections and
sub-sections.
(o) (p) The commissioner shall adopt and promulgate rules in
accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code to effectuate the provisions of this
section within ninety days after being and provide for an orderly
transition to provisions enacted by the Legislature in its
regular session in the year one thousand nine hundred
ninety-seven.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to expand the fraud
provisions and increase the fines when fraud occurs within this
article.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.