WEST virginia
legislature
2017 regular session
By
[
to the Committee on Roads and Transportation then Government Organization.
A BILL to amend and
reenact §17C-15-26 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to safety of tow trucks, wreckers, and
tilt-bed vehicles; authorizing red flashing warning lights on the vehicles
under certain circumstances.
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17C-15-26 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
Article 15. Equipment.
§17C-15-26. Special
restrictions on lamps.
(a) Any lighted lamp or
illuminating device upon a motor vehicle other than head lamps, spot lamps,
auxiliary lamps or flashing front-direction signals which projects a beam of
light of an intensity greater than three hundred candlepower shall be so
directed that no part of the beam will strike the level of the roadway on which
the vehicle stands at a distance of more than seventy-five feet from the
vehicle.
(b) No person may drive or
move any vehicle or equipment upon any highway with any lamp or device on the
vehicle displaying other than a white or amber light visible from directly in
front of the center of the vehicle except as authorized by subsection (d) of
this section.
(c) Except as authorized in
subsections (d) and (g) of this section and authorized in section nineteen of
this article, flashing lights are prohibited on motor vehicles: Provided, That any vehicle as a means
for indicating right or left turn or any vehicle as a means of indicating the
same is disabled or otherwise stopped for an emergency may have blinking or
flashing lights.
(d) Notwithstanding any
other provisions of this chapter, the following colors of flashing warning
lights are restricted for the use of the type of vehicle designated:
(1) Blue flashing warning
lights are restricted to police vehicles. Authorization for police vehicles shall
be designated by the chief administrative official of each police department.
(2) Except for standard
vehicle equipment authorized by section nineteen of this article, red flashing
warning lights are restricted to the following:
(A) Ambulances;
(B) Firefighting vehicles;
(C) Hazardous material
response vehicles;
(D) Industrial fire brigade
vehicles;
(E) Rescue squad vehicles
not operating out of a fire department;
(F) School buses;
(G) Tow trucks, wreckers
and tilt-bed vehicles;
(G) (H) Class A vehicles, as defined by section
one, article ten, chapter seventeen-a of this code, of those firefighters who
are authorized by their fire chiefs to have the lights;
(H) (I) Class A vehicles of members of duly
chartered rescue squads not operating out of a fire department;
(I) (J) Class A vehicles of members of ambulance
services or duly chartered rescue squads who are authorized by their respective
chiefs to have the lights;
(J) (K) Class A vehicles of out-of-state residents
who are active members of West Virginia fire departments, ambulance services or
duly chartered rescue squads who are authorized by their respective chiefs to
have the lights;
(K) (L) West Virginia Department of Agriculture
emergency response vehicles;
(L) (M) Vehicles designated by the Secretary of
the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety for emergency response or
emergency management by the Division of Corrections, Regional Jail and
Correctional Facility Authority, Division of Juvenile Services and Division of
Homeland Security and Emergency Management; and
(M) (N) Class A vehicles of emergency response or
emergency management personnel as designated by the Secretary of the Department
of Military Affairs and Public Safety and the county commission of the county
of residence.
Red flashing warning lights
attached to a Class A vehicle may be operated only when responding to or
engaged in handling an emergency requiring the attention of the firefighters,
members of the ambulance services or chartered rescue squads.
(3) The use of red flashing
warning lights is authorized as follows:
(A) Authorization for all
ambulances shall be designated by the Department of Health and Human Resources
and the sheriff of the county of residence.
(B) Authorization for all
fire department vehicles shall be designated by the fire chief and the State
Fire Marshal's Office.
(C) Authorization for all
hazardous material response vehicles and industrial fire brigades shall be
designated by the chief of the fire department and the State Fire Marshal's
Office.
(D) Authorization for all
rescue squad vehicles not operating out of a fire department shall be
designated by the squad chief, the sheriff of the county of residence and the
Department of Health and Human Resources.
(E) Authorization for
school buses shall be designated as set out in section twelve, article fourteen
of this chapter.
(F) Authorization for
firefighters to operate Class A vehicles shall be designated by their fire
chiefs and the state Fire Marshal's office.
(G) Authorization for
emergency tow trucks, wreckers and tilt-beds while stationary on a highway, loading,
unloading or providing road service to a disabled vehicle, as set forth in
section six, article one of this chapter.
(G) (H) Authorization for members of ambulance
services or any other emergency medical service personnel to operate Class A
vehicles shall be designated by their chief official, the Department of Health
and Human Resources and the sheriff of the county of residence.
(H) (I) Authorization for members of duly
chartered rescue squads not operating out of a fire department to operate Class
A vehicles shall be designated by their squad chiefs, the sheriff of the county
of residence and the Department of Health and Human Resources.
(I) (J) Authorization for out-of-state residents
operating Class A vehicles who are active members of a West Virginia fire
department, ambulance services or duly chartered rescue squads shall be
designated by their respective chiefs.
(J) (K) Authorization for West Virginia Department
of Agriculture emergency response vehicles shall be designated by the
Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture.
(K) (L) Authorization for vehicles for emergency
response or emergency management by the Division of Corrections, Regional Jail
and Correctional Facility Authority, Division of Juvenile Services and Division
of Homeland Security and Emergency Management shall be designated by the
Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.
(L) (M) Authorization for Class A vehicles of
emergency response or emergency management personnel as designated by the
Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety and the
county commission of the county of residence.
(4) Yellow or amber
flashing warning lights are restricted to the following:
(A) All other emergency
vehicles, including tow trucks and wreckers, authorized by this chapter and by
section twenty-seven of this article;
(B) Postal service vehicles
and rural mail carriers, as authorized in section nineteen of this article;
(C) Rural newspaper
delivery vehicles;
(D) Flag car services;
(E) Vehicles providing road
service to disabled vehicles;
(F) Service vehicles of a
public service corporation;
(G) Snow removal equipment;
(H) School buses; and
(I) Automotive fire
apparatus owned by a municipality or other political subdivision, by a
volunteer or part-volunteer fire company or department or by an industrial fire
brigade.
(5) The use of yellow or
amber flashing warning lights shall be authorized as follows:
(A) Authorization for tow
trucks, wreckers, rural newspaper delivery vehicles, flag car services,
vehicles providing road service to disabled vehicles, service vehicles of a
public service corporation and postal service vehicles shall be designated by the
sheriff of the county of residence.
(B) Authorization for snow
removal equipment shall be designated by the Commissioner of the Division of
Highways.
(C) Authorization for
school buses shall be designated as set out in section twelve, article fourteen
of this chapter.
(D) Authorization for
automotive fire apparatus shall be designated by the fire chief in conformity
with the NFPA 1901 Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus as published by the
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) on July 18, 2003, and adopted by
the state Fire Commission by legislative rule (87 CSR 1, et seq.),
except as follows:
(i) With the approval of
the State Fire Marshal, used automotive fire apparatus may be conformed to the
NFPA standard in effect on the date of its manufacture or conformed to a later
NFPA standard; and
(ii) Automotive fire
apparatus may be equipped with blinking or flashing headlamps.
(e) Notwithstanding the
foregoing provisions of this section, any vehicle belonging to a county board
of education, an organization receiving funding from the state or Federal
Transit Administration for the purpose of providing general public
transportation or hauling solid waste may be equipped with a white flashing
strobotron warning light. This strobe light may be installed on the roof of a
school bus, a public transportation vehicle or a vehicle hauling solid waste
not to exceed one-third the body length forward from the rear of the roof edge.
The light shall have a single clear lens emitting light three hundred sixty
degrees around its vertical axis and may not extend above the roof more than
six and one-half inches. A manual switch and a pilot light must be included to
indicate the light is in operation.
(f) Notwithstanding the
foregoing provisions of this section, any waste service vehicle as defined in
section eleven, article six of this chapter may be equipped with yellow or
amber flashing warning lights.
(g) It is unlawful for
flashing warning lights of an unauthorized color to be installed or used on a
vehicle other than as specified in this section, except that a police vehicle
may be equipped with either or both blue or red warning lights.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is
to provide that tow trucks, wreckers and tilt-bed vehicles may use red flashing
warning lights while loading, unloading or assisting disabled vehicles.
Strike-throughs indicate language
that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring
indicates new language that would be added.