H. B. 4542
(By Delegates Hunt and Browning)
[Introduced February 14, 2006; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation then the
Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §17C-15-46 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to requiring the use of
an appropriate child passenger restraint device for all
children under the age of nine.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17C-15-46 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15. EQUIPMENT.
§17C-15-46. Child passenger safety devices required; child safety
seats and booster seats.
Every driver who transports a child under the age of eight
nine years in a passenger automobile, van or pickup truck other
than one operated for hire shall, while the motor vehicle is in
motion and operated on a street or highway of this state, provide for the protection of the child by properly placing, maintaining
and securing the child in a child passenger safety device system
meeting applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards:
Provided, That if a child is under the age of eight years and at
least four feet nine inches tall at least four years of age or at
least forty pounds in weight, a safety belt shall be sufficient to
meet the requirements of this section.
Any person who violates any provision of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than ten dollars nor more than twenty dollars.
A violation of this section does not by virtue of the
violation constitute evidence of negligence or contributory
negligence or comparative negligence in any civil action or
proceeding for damages.
If any provision of this section or the application thereof to
any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity may not
affect other provisions or applications of this section and to this
end the subsections of this section are declared to be severable.
If all seat belts in a vehicle are being used at the time of
examination by a law officer and the vehicle contains more
passengers than the total number of seat belts or other safety
devices as installed in compliance with federal motor vehicle
safety standards, the driver may not be considered in violation of
this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the use of an
appropriate child passenger restraint device for all children under
the age of nine, and allowing a child that is at least four years
of age or at least forty pounds in weight to use a seat belt.
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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