H. B. 4379
(By Delegate Martin)
(By Request of the Division of Motor Vehicles)
[Introduced February 5, 2010
; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §17C-4-1, §17C-4-2, §17C-4-3, §17C-4-5,
§17C-4-6, §17C-4-7, §17C-4-8, §17C-4-9, §17C-4-10, §17C-4-11,
§17C-4-14 and §17C-4-15 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, all relating to
reporting crashes to a law
enforcement agency; increasing property damage notification
threshold; updating law enforcement reporting requirements;
and changing responsibility for receiving reports and
preparation of reports to the Division of Highways.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17C-4-1, §17C-4-2, §17C-4-3, §17C-4-5, §17C-4-6,
§17C-4-7, §17C-4-8, §17C-4-9, §17C-4-10, §17C-4-11, §17C-4-14 and
§17C-4-15 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. ACCIDENTS.
§17C-4-1. Accidents involving death or personal injuries.
(a) The driver of any vehicle involved in
an accident a crash
resulting in injury to or death of any person shall immediately
stop the vehicle at the scene of the
accident crash or as close
thereto as possible, but shall then forthwith return to and
shall
remain at the scene of the
accident crash until he or she has
complied with the requirements of section three of this article:
Provided, That the driver may leave the scene of the
accident
crash as may reasonably be necessary for the purpose of rendering
assistance to an injured person as required by
said section three
of this article. Every such stop Stops required by this section
shall be made without obstructing traffic more than is necessary.
(b) Any person violating the provisions of subsection (a) of
this section after being involved in
an accident a crash resulting
in the death of any person is guilty of a felony and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be punished by confinement in a
correctional facility for not more than three years or fined not
more than $5,000, or both.
(c) Any person violating the provisions of subsection (a) of
this section after being involved in
an accident a crash resulting
in physical injury to any person is guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by confinement in
a
county or regional jail for not more than one year, or fined not
more than $1,000, or both.
(d) The commissioner shall revoke the
driver's license or
permit to drive and any nonresident operating privilege of any person convicted pursuant to the provisions of this section for a
period of one year.
§17C-4-2. Accidents involving damage to vehicle.
The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident a crash
resulting only in damage to a vehicle which is driven or attended
by any person shall immediately stop such the vehicle at the scene
of such accident the crash or as close thereto as possible but shall
forthwith return to and in every event shall remain at the scene of
such accident the crash until he or she has fulfilled the
requirements of section three of this article. Every such stop
Stops required by this section shall be made without obstructing
traffic more than is necessary. Any person failing to stop or
comply with said the requirements under such those circumstances
shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and, subject to the penalties
provided in section one, article eighteen of this chapter.
§17C-4-3. Duty to give information and render aid.
The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident a crash
resulting in injury to or death of any person or damage to any
vehicle which is driven or attended by any person shall give his or
her name, address and the registration number of the vehicle he or
she is driving and shall upon request and if available exhibit his
or her driver's license to the person struck or the driver or
occupant of or person attending any vehicle collided with and shall
render to any person injured in such accident the crash reasonable
assistance, including the carrying, or the making arrangements for the carrying of such the person to a physician, surgeon or hospital
for medical or surgical treatment if it is apparent that such the
treatment is necessary or if such the carrying is requested by the
injured person.
§17C-4-5. Duty upon striking fixtures upon a highway.
The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident a crash
resulting only in damage to fixtures or other property legally upon
or adjacent to a highway shall take reasonable steps to locate and
notify the owner or person in charge of such the property of such
that fact and of his or her name and address and of the registration
number of the vehicle he or she is driving and shall upon request
and if available exhibit his or her driver's license and shall make
report of such accident the crash when and as required in section
seven of this article. Any person failing to make the notification
required by this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.
§17C-4-6. Immediate reports of crashes.
The driver of a vehicle involved in an accident a crash
resulting in injury to or death of any person or total property
damage to an apparent extent of five hundred dollars $1,000 or more
shall immediately by the quickest means of communication whether
oral or written give notice of such accident the crash to the local
police department if such accident the crash occurs within a
municipality, otherwise to the office of the county sheriff or the
nearest office of the West Virginia State Police.
§17C-4-7. Written reports of crashes.
(a) Every law-enforcement officer who, in the regular course
of duty, investigates a motor vehicle accident crash occurring on
the public streets or highways of this state resulting in bodily
injury to or death of any person or total property damage to an
apparent extent of five hundred dollars $1,000 or more shall, either
at the time of and at the scene of the accident crash or thereafter
by interviewing participants or witnesses, within twenty-four hours
after completing such the investigation, forward a written prepare
a report of such accident the crash either electronically or in
writing. to the division. The division shall prepare a form for
such accident crash report and, after approval of such form by
(b) The investigating law-enforcement officer shall submit the
report electronically or in writing to the Division of Highways in
the form and manner approved by
the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles,
the superintendent of the West Virginia State Police and the
Commissioner of Highways. The Division of Highways shall supply
electronic submission capable or paper copies of such the form to
police departments, sheriffs and other appropriate law-enforcement
agencies. Every accident report required under the provisions of
this section shall be made on such form.
(c) In the event that the investigating law-enforcement officer
can not complete the investigation within twenty-four hours, he or
she shall submit a preliminary report of the crash to the Division
of Highways within ten days and submit the final report within twenty-four hours of completion of the investigation.
§17C-4-8. When driver unable to report.
Whenever the driver of a vehicle is physically incapable of
making an immediate report of an accident notification of a crash
as required in section six of this article and there was another
occupant in the vehicle at the time of the accident crash capable
of making a report notification, such that occupant shall make or
cause to be made said report the notification not made by the
driver.
§17C-4-9. Accident report forms.
(a) The Division of Highways shall prepare and upon request
supply to the State Police, municipal police departments, coroners,
sheriffs, Division of Natural Resources and other suitable agencies
or individuals, electronic submission capable or paper forms for
accident crash reports required hereunder. appropriate with respect
to the persons required to make such reports and the purposes to be
served
(b) The written format of the crash reports to be made by
investigating officers shall call for provide sufficiently detailed
information to disclose with reference to a traffic accident crash
the cause, conditions then existing and the persons and vehicles
involved.
(b) Every accident crash report required to be made in writing
shall be made on in the appropriate form approved provided by the
Division of Highways and shall contain all of the information required therein unless not available.
(c) Every such crash report shall also contain information
sufficient to enable the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles to determine
whether the requirements for security upon motor vehicles is in
effect in accordance with chapter seventeen-d of this code.
§17C-4-10. Penalty for failure to report.
The commissioner may suspend the driver's license or permit to
drive and any nonresident operating privileges of any person failing
to report an accident a crash as herein provided under section six
of this article. until such report has been filed Any person
convicted of failing to make a report notification as required
herein shall be punished as provided in section one, article
eighteen of this chapter.
§17C-4-11. Coroners to report on crash victims.
Every coroner or other official performing like functions shall
on or before the tenth day of each month report in writing to the
department Division of Highways the death of any person within his
or her jurisdiction during the preceding calendar month as the
result of a traffic accident crash giving the time and place of the
accident crash and the circumstances relating thereto.
§17C-4-14. Department to tabulate and analyze crash reports.
The department Division of Highways shall tabulate and may
analyze all accident crash reports and shall publish annually, or
at more frequent intervals, statistical information based thereon as to the number and circumstances of traffic accidents crashes.
§17C-4-15. Any incorporated city, town, etc., may require crash
reports.
Any incorporated city, town, village or other municipality may
by ordinance require that the driver of a vehicle involved in an
accident crash shall file with a designated city department a report
of such accident the crash. All such crash reports shall be are for
the confidential use of the city department.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to update the terms and
procedures for the notification after traffic crashes and completion
of the required reports by investigating law-enforcement officers.
Crash reports are now sent to the Division of Highways, not the
Division of Motor Vehicles. The word "accident" is replaced by the
word "crash". Research in highway safety now reflects that "crash"
is the term of art to describe motor vehicle collisions and is used
in most states and encompasses a wider range of potential causes for
vehicular crashes than does the term accident.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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