Senate Bill No. 246
(By Senator Snyder)
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[Introduced January 21, 2004; referred to the Committee on
Transportation; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §17C-16-1 and §17C-16-4 of the code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to motor
vehicles generally; and requiring inspections of certain motor
vehicles if driven on the roads and highways of this state.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17C-16-1 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §17C-16-4 of said code be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 16. INSPECTION OF VEHICLES.
§17C-16-1. Vehicles not to operate without required equipment or
in unsafe condition.
No person shall drive or move on any highway any motor
vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer, including those
vehicles exempt from registration requirements under the provisions
of subdivision (6) of subsection (a) of section two, article three, chapter seventeen-a of this code or any combination thereof unless
the equipment upon any and every said vehicle is in good working
order and adjustment as required in this chapter and said the
vehicle is in such safe mechanical condition as not to endanger the
driver or other occupant or any person upon any highway.
§17C-16-4. Commissioner to require periodical inspection;
acceptance of certificate of inspection from another
state; suspension of registration of unsafe
vehicles.
(a) The commissioner of motor vehicles shall once each year
require that every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, and pole
trailer registered in this state, including those vehicles exempt
from registration requirements under the provisions of subdivision
(6), subsection (a), section two, article three, chapter
seventeen-a of this code if driven on any road or highway of this
state be inspected and that an official certificate of inspection
and approval be obtained for each such vehicle.
Such inspections shall be made and such certificates obtained
with respect to the mechanism, brakes, and equipment of every such
vehicle as shall be designated by the commissioner.
The commissioner is hereby authorized to make necessary rules
and regulations for the administration and enforcement of this
section and to designate any period or periods of time during which
owners of any vehicles, subject to this section, shall display upon such vehicles certificates of inspection and approval or shall
produce the same upon demand of any officer or employee of the
department designated by the commissioner or any police or peace
officer when authorized by the commissioner.
(b) The commissioner may authorize the acceptance in this
state of a certificate of inspection and approval issued in another
state having an inspection law similar to this chapter and may
extend the time within which a certificate shall be obtained by the
resident owner of a vehicle which was not in this state during the
time an inspection was required.
(c) The commissioner may suspend the registration of any
vehicle which he or she determines is in such unsafe condition as
to constitute a menace to safety or which after notice and demand
is not equipped as required in this chapter or for which a required
certificate has not been obtained.
(d) If requested by the owner thereof
, the commissioner shall
also cause to be inspected a Class A, farm use, motor vehicle
exempt from annual registration certificate and licensing
as
provided in section two, article three, chapter seventeen-a of this
code. If the Class A farm use motor vehicle passes the inspection,
the commissioner shall cause to be issued a certificate of
inspection for that vehicle.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require certain nonfarm use motor vehicles which are exempt from registration to be
inspected if they are driven on the roads and highways of this
state.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.