ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2098
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chambers, and Delegates Burk and Kessel)
[Passed March 16, 1993; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to amend article fifteen, chapter seventeen-c of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
forty-nine, relating to the mandatory use of safety belts in
the front seat of passenger vehicles; mandating the use of
safety belts for all passengers in the back seat of
passenger vehicles who are under the age of eighteen years;
defining the term "passenger vehicle" for purposes of said
section; creating exceptions for certain disabled persons
and United States rural postal service carriers; providing
a penalty for a violation of said section; limiting the
enforcement of such violation to a secondary action when the
driver of a motor vehicle has been detained for probable
cause of violating another section of this code; providing
that evidence of a violation of this section is not
admissible to prove negligence, contributory negligence or
comparative negligence or to mitigate damages; exception;
when certain damages may be mitigated; establishing
procedure for reducing certain damages; prohibiting the
entry of points on a driver's record for a violation of this
section; mandating the governor's highway safety program, in
cooperation with other governmental agencies, to initiate
and conduct safety courses and educational programs
encouraging compliance with safety belt usage laws; and
clarifying the effect of this section on existing provisions
governing the use of child passenger safety devices.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article fifteen, chapter seventeen-c of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
forty-nine, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15. EQUIPMENT.
§17C-15-49. Operation of vehicles with safety belts; exception;
penalty; civil actions; educational program by division
of public safety.
(a) Effective the first day of September, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-three, a person may not operate a passenger
vehicle on a public street or highway of this state unless the
person, any passenger in the back seat under eighteen years of
age, and any passenger in the front seat of such passenger
vehicle is restrained by a safety belt meeting applicable federal
motor vehicle safety standards. For the purposes of this
section, the term "passenger vehicle" means a motor vehicle which
is designed for transporting ten passengers or less, including
the driver, except that such term does not include a motorcycle,
a trailer, or any motor vehicle which is not required on the dateof the enactment of this section under a federal motor vehicle
safety standard to be equipped with a belt system. The
provisions of this section shall apply to all passenger vehicles
manufactured after the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred sixty-seven, and being 1968 models and newer.
(b) The required use of safety belts as provided herein does
not apply to a duly appointed or contracted rural mail carrier of
the United States postal service who is actually making mail
deliveries or to a passenger or operator with a physically
disabling condition whose physical disability would prevent
appropriate restraint in such safety belt if the condition is
duly certified by a physician who shall state the nature of the
disability as well as the reason such restraint is inappropriate.
The division of motor vehicles shall adopt rules, in accordance
with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, to
establish a method to certify the physical disability and to
require use of an alternative restraint system where feasible or
to waive the requirement for the use of any restraint system.
(c) Any person who violates the provisions of this section
shall be fined not more than twenty-five dollars. No court costs
or other fees shall be assessed for a violation of this section.
Enforcement of this section shall be accomplished only as a
secondary action when a driver of a passenger vehicle has been
detained for probable cause of violating another section of this
code.
(d) A violation of this section is not admissible as
evidence of negligence or contributory negligence or comparative
negligence in any civil action or proceeding for damages, andshall not be admissible in mitigation of damages:
Provided,
That
the court may, upon motion of the defendant, conduct an in camera
hearing to determine whether an injured party's failure to wear
a safety belt was a proximate cause of the injuries complained
of. Upon such a finding by the court, the court may then, in a
jury trial, by special interrogatory to the jury, determine (1)
that the injured party failed to wear a safety belt and (2) that
the failure to wear the safety belt constituted a failure to
mitigate damages. The trier of fact may reduce the injured
party's recovery for medical damages by an amount not to exceed
five percent thereof. In the event the plaintiff stipulates to
the reduction of five percent of medical damages, the court shall
make the calculations and the issue of mitigation of damages for
failure to wear a safety belt shall not be presented to the jury.
In all cases, the actual computation of the dollar amount
reduction shall be determined by the court.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, no points may be entered on any driver's record
maintained by the division of motor vehicles as a result of a
violation of this section.
(f) Commencing the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-three, the governor's highway safety program, in
cooperation with the division of public safety and any other
state departments or agencies and with county and municipal law-
enforcement agencies, shall initiate and conduct an educational
program designed to encourage compliance with safety belt usage
laws. This program shall be focused on the effectiveness of
safety belts, the monetary savings and the other benefits to thepublic from usage of safety belts and the requirements and
penalties specified in this law.
(g) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to
abrogate or alter the provisions of section forty-six of this
article relating to the mandatory use of child passenger safety
devices.
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