Senate Bill No. 639
(By Senator White)
____________
[Introduced February 23, 2004; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §17C-15-50 of the code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to installation of a new
air bag in a motor vehicle to replace a deployed air bag;
requiring the installer to submit a "certificate of
installation" to the owner of the vehicle and to the division
of motor vehicles; and penalty.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17C-15-50 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15. EQUIPMENT.
§17C-15-50. Deployed restraint systems resale or reinstallation
prohibited; certificate of installation.
(a) A person who knowingly installs or reinstalls any object
in lieu of an air bag or anything other than a not previously deployed air bag that was designed in accordance with federal
safety regulations for the make, model and year of vehicle, as part
of a vehicle inflatable restraint system, is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less
than one thousand nor more than five thousand dollars, or
imprisoned in the county or regional jail not more than one year,
or both fined and imprisoned.
(b) Upon installation of a new air bag in a motor vehicle to
replace an air bag that was deployed during a motor vehicle
accident or by other means, the person installing the new air bag
shall submit a "certificate of installation" to the owner of the
vehicle to certify that a new air bag has been installed in the
vehicle which fully complies with federal safety regulations. The
person installing the air bag shall additionally submit a copy of
the "certificate of installation" to the division of motor vehicles
for inclusion in the vehicle's title and registration records,
which shall be made available to any subsequent purchaser of the
vehicle. A person failing to submit a "certificate of
installation" as required by the provisions of this subsection is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than one thousand nor more than five thousand
dollars, or imprisoned in the regional jail not more than one year,
or both fined and imprisoned. The commissioner of motor vehicles
shall devise an appropriate "certificate of installation" form to be used for purposes of this subsection.
NOTE: This bill requires that, upon installation of a new air
bag in a motor vehicle to replace an air bag that was deployed
during a motor vehicle accident, the person installing the new air
bag must submit a "certificate of installation" to the owner of the
vehicle and the DMV to certify that a new air bag has been
installed in the vehicle which fully complies with federal safety
regulations.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.