Senate Bill No. 625
(By Senators Yost, Chafin, Fanning, Snyder, Bowman and Sypolt)
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[Introduced March 18, 2009; referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure; and then to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §17A-10-3b of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §17C-15-44 of
said code; and to amend said code by adding thereto a new
section, designated §17C-15-44a, all relating to motorcycle
safety and equipment; increasing the motorcycle safety fee;
providing a motorcycle helmet exemption for motorcyclists
meeting certain requirements; helmet exemption sticker and
fees; penalties; and rules.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17A-10-3b of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; that §17C-15-44 of said code be
amended and reenacted; and that said code be amended by adding
thereto a new section, designated §17C-15-44a, all to read as
follows:
CHAPTER 17A. MOTOR VEHICLE ADMINISTRATION, REGISTRATION,
CERTIFICATE OF TITLE, AND ANTITHEFT PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 10. FEES FOR REGISTRATION, LICENSING, ETC.
§17A-10-3b. Motorcycle safety fee.
Upon the annual registration of any motorcycle, the division
shall collect a motorcycle safety fee of $6.50 $10, in addition to
the registration fee specified in section three of this article.
The division shall deposit $5.50 $9 of the motorcycle safety fee
into the State Treasury and credit the moneys to the motorcycle
safety fund. The division shall deposit the remaining $1 of the
motorcycle safety fee into the State Treasury and credit the moneys
collected to the motorcycle license examination fund established in
section seven-c, article two, chapter seventeen-b of this code.
CHAPTER 17C. TRAFFIC REGULATIONS AND LAWS OF THE ROAD.
ARTICLE 15. EQUIPMENT.
§17C-15-44. Safety equipment and requirements for motorcyclists,
motorcycles, motor-driven cycles and mopeds;
motorcycle safety standards and education
committee.
(a) No person shall operate or be a passenger on any
motorcycle or motor-driven cycle unless the person is wearing
securely fastened on his or her head by either a neck or chin strap
a protective helmet designed to deflect blows, resist penetration and spread impact forces, except as otherwise provided in section
forty-four-a of this article. Any helmet worn by an operator or
passenger shall meet the current performance specifications
established by the American National Standards Institute Standard,
Z 90.1, the United States Department of Transportation Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 218 or Snell Safety Standards for
Protective Headgear for Vehicle Users.
(b) No person shall operate or be a passenger on any
motorcycle or motor-driven cycle unless the person is wearing
safety, shatter-resistant eyeglasses (excluding contact lenses), or
eye goggles or face shield that complies with the performance
specifications established by the American National Standards
Institute for Head, Eye and Respiratory Protection, Z 2.1. In
addition, if any motorcycle, motor-driven cycle or moped is
equipped with a windshield or windscreen, the windshield or
windscreen shall be constructed of safety, shatter-resistant
material that complies with the performance specifications
established by Department of Transportation Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard No. 205 and American National Standards Institute,
Safety Glazing Materials for Glazing Motor Vehicles Operated on
Land Highways, Standard Z 26.1.
(c) No person shall operate a motorcycle, motor-driven cycle
or moped on which the handlebars or grips are more than fifteen
inches higher than the uppermost part of the operator's seat when the seat is not depressed in any manner.
(d) A person operating a motorcycle, motor-driven cycle or
moped shall ride in a seated position facing forward and only upon
a permanent operator's seat attached to the vehicle. No operator
shall carry any other person nor shall any other person ride on the
vehicle unless the vehicle is designed to carry more than one
person, in which event a passenger may ride behind the operator
upon the permanent operator's seat if it is designed for two
persons, or upon another seat firmly attached to the vehicle to the
rear of the operator's seat and equipped with footrests designed
and located for use by the passenger or in a sidecar firmly
attached to the vehicle. No person shall ride side saddle on a
seat. An operator may carry as many passengers as there are seats
and footrests to accommodate those passengers. Additional
passengers may be carried in a factory produced sidecar provided
that there is one passenger per seat. Passengers riding in a
sidecar shall be restrained by safety belts.
(e) Every motorcycle, motor-driven cycle and moped shall be
equipped with a rearview mirror affixed to the handlebars or
fairings and adjusted so that the operator shall have a clear view
of the road and condition of traffic behind him for a distance of
at least two hundred feet.
(f) There is hereby created a six member motorcycle safety and
education committee consisting of: the superintendent of the State Police or a designee; the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles or a
designee; the director of the West Virginia safety council or a
designee; a licensed motorcycle operator; an owner of a motorcycle
dealership; and a supplier of aftermarket nonfranchised motorcycle
supplies. The nongovernmental representatives shall be appointed
by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall
serve without compensation, and the terms shall be for three years,
except that as to the members first appointed, one shall be
appointed for a term of one year, one shall be appointed for a term
of two years and one shall be appointed for a term of three years.
Members may be reappointed to the committee.
The committee shall continue to exist pursuant to the
provisions of article ten, chapter four of this code until July 1,
1990-nine, to allow for the completion of a preliminary performance
review by the joint committee on government operations.
The committee is hereby authorized to recommend to the
superintendent of public safety types and makes of protective
helmets, eye protection devices and equipment offered for sale,
purchased or used by any person. The committee is authorized to
make recommendations to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles
regarding the use of the moneys in the motorcycle safety fund
created under section seven, article one-d, chapter seventeen-b of
this code.
§17C-15-44a. Motorcycle helmet exemptions; requirements; fees; penalties; and rules.
(a) Effective July 1, 2009, a person operating a motorcycle or
motor-driven cycle is exempt from wearing a motorcycle helmet as
required in section forty-four of this article if the person:
(1) Is at least twenty-one years old;
(2) Has held a motorcycle operator's license or endorsement
for a minimum of two years;
(3) Has completed a motorcycle safety training course under as
provided in sections two and three, article one-d, chapter
seventeen-b of this code or has completed a comparable motorcycle
safety training course approved by the Division of Motor Vehicles;
and
(4) Is covered by a health insurance plan providing the person
with at least $10,000 in medical benefits for injuries incurred as
a result of an accident while operating or riding on a motorcycle.
(b) A person who is at least twenty-one years old and holds a
motorcycle operator's license or endorsement on or before June 30,
2009, is eligible for a "grandfather" exception to subsection (a)
in which the two year minimum operator's license or endorsement
requirement set forth in subdivision (2) of subsection (a) and the
safety training course requirement set forth in subdivision (3) of
subsection (a) are waived if the person complies with the health
insurance requirement set forth in subdivision (4) of subsection
(a).
(c) Effective July 1, 2009, a person riding as a passenger on
a motorcycle or motor-driven cycle is exempt from wearing a
motorcycle helmet as required in section forty-four of this article
if the person:
(1) Is at least twenty-one years old; and
(2) Is
covered by a health insurance plan providing the person
with at least $10,000 in medical benefits for injuries incurred as
a result of an accident while operating or riding on a motorcycle.
(d) For a fee of $5, the Division of Motor Vehicles shall
issue a serialized, nontransferrable "helmet exception" operator
sticker or passenger sticker to a motorcycle or motor-driven cycle
operator or passenger demonstrating compliance with the
requirements set forth in subsection (a),(b) or (c) of this
section.
A
"helmet exemption"
sticker issued pursuant to this
section expires on the second anniversary of the date of issuance.
(e)
A person operating or riding as a passenger on a
motorcycle
or motor-driven cycle
without a helmet shall display a
"helmet exemption" sticker issued pursuant to subsection (d) of
this section
on the license plate of the motorcycle or the license
plate mounting bracket.
A person displaying a "helmet exemption"
sticker in this manner is presumed to be in compliance with the
provisions of subsection (a),(b) or (c) of this section.
(f) For purposes of this section, "health insurance plan"
means an individual, group, blanket, or franchise insurance policy, insurance agreement, evidence of coverage, group hospital services
contract, health maintenance organization membership, or employee
benefit plan that provides benefits for health care services or for
medical or surgical expenses incurred as a result of an accident.
(g) A person operating or riding as a passenger on a
motorcycle
or motor-driven cycle
without a helmet who is not in
compliance with the provisions of this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less
than $200 nor more than $500; and upon a second or subsequent
conviction shall be fined not less than $500 nor more than $1000.
An arresting officer may impound a motorcycle operated by a person
violating the provisions of this section unless the person can
lawfully operate the motorcycle by then wearing a helmet or by
otherwise demonstrating compliance
with the provisions of this
section.
(h) The Commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles shall
propose rules in accordance with the provisions of article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to implement the provisions of
this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a motorcycle
helmet exemption to motorcyclists who meet certain safety and
health insurance requirements. This bill would allow West Virginia
to compete for motorcycle tourism dollars on a more equal footing
with neighboring states which do not require motorcyclists to wear
helmets. This bill sets age, experience, safety training and
health insurance requirements for motorcycle operators to qualify for a helmet exemption, and sets age and health insurance
requirements for motorcycle passengers to qualify for a helmet
exemption. The bill creates a helmet exemption sticker to be
displayed prominently on the motorcycle to verify compliance with
helmet exemption provisions, and provides penalties for violations
of helmet exemption provisions. The bill also increases the
motorcycle safety awareness fee from $6.50 to $10 to provide
additional funding for motorcycle safety training programs. The
bill additionally deletes outdated and duplicate language
referencing the Motorcycle Safety Awareness Board established in
§17B-1D-8.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
§17C-15-44a
is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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