Introduced Version
Senate Bill 123 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 123
(By Senators Miller and Beach)
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[Introduced February 13, 2013; referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure; and then to the Committee on
the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §17A-3-2 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the use of low-speed vehicles in
municipalities; and authorizing municipalities to allow the
operation of low-speed vehicles on roads in municipalities
where the speed limit is not more than thirty-five miles per
hour.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17A-3-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. ORIGINAL AND RENEWAL OF REGISTRATION; ISSUANCE OF
CERTIFICATES OF TITLE.
§17A-3-2. Every motor vehicle, etc., subject to registration and certificate of title provisions; exceptions.
(a) Every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer
and recreational vehicle when driven or moved upon a highway is
subject to the registration and certificate of title provisions of
this chapter except:
(1) Any vehicle driven or moved upon a highway in conformance
with the provisions of this chapter relating to manufacturers,
transporters, dealers, lienholders or nonresidents or under a
temporary registration permit issued by the division as authorized
under this chapter;
(2) Any implement of husbandry upon which is securely attached
a machine for spraying fruit trees and plants of the owner or lessee
or for any other implement of husbandry which is used exclusively
for agricultural or horticultural purposes on lands owned or leased
by the owner of the implement and which is not operated on or over
any public highway of this state for any other purpose other than
for the purpose of operating it across a highway or along a highway
other than an expressway as designated by the Commissioner of the
Division of Highways from one point of the owner's land to another
part of the owner's land, irrespective of whether or not the tracts
adjoin: Provided, That the distance between the points may not
exceed thirty-five miles, or for the purpose of taking it or other
fixtures attached to the implement, to and from a repair shop for repairs. The exemption in this subdivision from registration and
license requirements also applies to any vehicle described in this
subsection or to any farm trailer owned by the owner or lessee of
the farm on which the trailer is used, when the trailer is used by
the owner of the trailer for the purpose of moving farm produce and
livestock from the farm along a public highway for a distance not
to exceed thirty-five miles to a storage house or packing plant,
when the use is a seasonal operation:
(A) The exemptions contained in this section also apply to farm
machinery, tractors and mini trucks: Provided, That the machinery,
tractors and mini trucks may use the highways in going from one
tract of land to another tract of land regardless of whether the
land is owned by the same or different persons. For the purposes
of this section, "mini truck" means a foreign-manufactured import
or domestic-manufactured vehicle designed primarily for off-road use
and powered by an engine ranging in size from 550cc to 660cc and
weighing approximately one thousand eight hundred pounds;
(B) Any vehicle exempted under this subsection from the
requirements of annual registration certificate and license plates
and fees for the registration certificate and license plate may not
use the highways between sunset and sunrise unless the vehicle is
classified as a Class A motor vehicle with a farm-use exemption
under the provisions of section one, article ten of this chapter and has a valid and current inspection sticker as required by the
provisions of article sixteen, chapter seventeen-c of this code and
is traveling from one tract of land to another over a distance of
thirty-five miles or less;
(C) Any vehicle exempted under this section from the
requirements of annual registration certificate and license plates
may use the highways as provided in this section whether the exempt
vehicle is self-propelled, towed by another exempt vehicle or towed
by another vehicle required to be registered;
(D) Any vehicle used as an implement of husbandry exempt under
this section shall have the words "farm use" affixed to both sides
of the implement in ten-inch letters. Any vehicle which would be
subject to registration as a Class A or B vehicle if not exempted
by this section shall display a farm-use exemption certificate on
the lower driver's side of the windshield:
(i) The farm-use exemption certificate shall be provided by the
commissioner and shall be issued annually by the assessor of the
applicant's county of residence. The assessor shall issue a farm-
use exemption certificate to the applicant upon his or her
determination pursuant to an examination of the property books or
documentation provided by the applicant that the vehicle has been
properly assessed as Class I personal property. Nothing in this
section or any rule promulgated under the authority of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code may be construed to require any applicant
for a renewal of a farm-use exemption certificate to appear
personally before any assessor. The assessor shall charge a fee of
$2 for each certificate, which shall be retained by the assessor;
(ii) A farm-use exemption certificate shall not exempt the
applicant from maintaining the security required by chapter
seventeen-d of this code on any vehicle being operated on the roads
or highways of this state;
(iii) No person charged with the offense of operating a vehicle
without a farm-use exemption certificate, if required under this
section, may be convicted of the offense if he or she produces in
court, or in the office of the arresting officer, a valid farm-use
exemption certificate for the vehicle in question within five days;
(3) Any vehicle which is propelled exclusively by electric
power obtained from overhead trolley wires though not operated upon
rails;
(4) Any vehicle of a type subject to registration which is
owned by the government of the United States;
(5) Any wrecked or disabled vehicle towed by a licensed wrecker
or dealer on the public highways of this state;
(6) The following recreational vehicles are exempt from the
requirements of annual registration, license plates and fees, unless
otherwise specified by law, but are subject to the certificate of title provisions of this chapter regardless of highway use:
Motorboats, all-terrain vehicles, utility terrain vehicles and
snowmobiles; and
(7) Any special mobile equipment as defined in subsection (r),
section one, article one of this chapter.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section:
(1) Mobile homes or manufactured homes are exempt from the
requirements of annual registration, license plates and fees;
(2) House trailers may be registered and licensed; and
(3) Factory-built homes are subject to the certificate of title
provisions of this chapter.
(c) The division shall title and register low-speed vehicles
if the manufacturer's certificate of origin clearly identifies the
vehicle as a low-speed vehicle. The division may not title or
register homemade low-speed vehicles or retrofitted golf carts and
such vehicles do not qualify as low-speed vehicles in this state.
In addition to all other motor vehicle laws and regulations, except
as specifically exempted below, low-speed vehicles are subject to
the following restrictions and requirements:
(1) Low-speed vehicles shall only be operated on private roads
and on public roads and streets within the corporate limits of a
municipality where the speed limit is not more than twenty-five miles per hour: Provided, That a municipality may authorize, by
ordinance, the operation of low-speed vehicles on private roads and
on public roads and streets within the corporate limits of a
municipality where the speed limit is not more than thirty-five
miles per hour;
(2) Notwithstanding any provisions in this code to the
contrary, low-speed vehicles shall meet the requirements of 49
C.F.R. §571.500 (2003);
(3) In lieu of annual inspection, the owner of a low-speed
vehicle shall, upon initial application for registration and each
renewal thereafter, certify under penalty of false swearing, that
all lights, brakes, tires and seat belts are in good working
condition; and
(4) Any person operating a low-speed vehicle must hold a valid
driver's license, not an instruction permit.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
authorize municipalities
to allow the operation of low-speed vehicles on roads in
municipalities where the speed limit is not more than thirty-five
miles per hour.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.