COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 444
(By Senators Unger and Hunter)
____________
[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported March 24, 2005.]
____________
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §17C-4A-1, §17C-4A-2,
§17C-4A-3 and §17C-4A-4, all relating to careless driving
which causes the unintentional death or serious bodily injury
of another person generally; defining "careless driving which
causes the unintentional death or serious bodily injury of
another person"; establishing the offense of careless driving
which causes the unintentional death or serious bodily injury
of another person; providing criminal penalties for
violations; requiring the Commissioner of the Division of
Motor Vehicles to assess points against the driver's license
of a person convicted of careless driving which causes the
unintentional death or serious bodily injury of another
person; requiring the Commissioner of the Division of Motor
Vehicles to suspend the license of a person convicted for a
second or subsequent offense of careless driving that causes
the unintentional or serious bodily injury to another person; and requiring the Commissioner of the Division of Motor
Vehicles to propose legislative rules.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article, designated §17C-4A-1, §17C-4A-2,
§17C-4A-3 and §17C-4A-4, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4A. CARELESS DRIVING CAUSING UNINTENTIONAL DEATH OR
SERIOUS BODILY INJURY TO ANOTHER PERSON.
§17C-4A-1. Definitions.
As used in this article
(1) The term "careless driving causing unintentional death or
serious bodily injury to another person" means the operation of a
motor vehicle on a street, road or highway without due care and
attention or without reasonable consideration for other persons
using the street, road or highway which causes the unintentional
death or serious bodily injury of another person.
(2) "Serious bodily injury" means any bodily injury which
creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious,
permanent disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of
function of any bodily member or organ.
§17C-4A-2. Careless driving causing unintentional death or serious
bodily injury to another person; penalties.
Any person who drives any vehicle upon any street or highway,
or upon any residential street, or in any parking area, or upon the
ways of any institution of higher education, whether public or private, or upon the ways of any state institution, or upon the
property of any county boards of education, or upon any property
within the State Park and Public Recreation System established by
the Director of the Division of Natural Resources pursuant to
section three, article four, chapter twenty of this code without
due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for
other persons using the street, road or highway and causes the
unintentional death or serious bodily injury of another person is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined up to two thousand dollars.
§17C-4A-3. Exceptions.
The provisions of this section do not apply to those areas
which have been temporarily closed for racing sport events or which
may be set aside by the Director of the Division of Natural
Resources within the State Park and Recreation System for exclusive
use by motorcycles or other recreational vehicles.
§17C-4A-4. Assessment of points and suspension of license.
In addition to any penalty imposed for careless driving under
the provisions of section two of this article, the Commissioner of
the Division of Motor Vehicles shall assess six points against the
driver's license of any person convicted of a first offense under
section two of this article and shall suspend for six months the
driver's license of any person convicted of a second or subsequent
offense upon receiving notice from a circuit clerk, magistrate
court or municipal court of this state. Circuit clerks, magistrate
courts and municipal courts of this state shall promptly notify the Commissioner of any conviction under this article.
The Commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles shall
propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the
provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to
effectuate the purposes of this section.
__________
(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish the offense of
careless driving which causes the unintentional death or serious
bodily injury of another person and provide criminal penalties for
violations. In addition, the bill requires the Commissioner of the
Division of Motor Vehicles to assess points against the driver's
license of a person convicted and to suspend the license of a
driver convicted of a second or subsequent offense. The bill
requires the Commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles to
propose rules to implement the provisions of the article.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.)