Senate Bill No. 474
(By Senators Ross, Schoonover, Ball and Anderson)
____________
[Introduced February 9, 1999;
referred to the Committee on Transportation.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-six, article fifteen,
chapter seventeen-c of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
the use of strobotron warning lights on public transit
vehicles.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-six, article fifteen, chapter seventeen- c of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty- one, 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 shall drive or move any vehicle or equipment
upon any highway with any lamp or device thereon displaying other
than a white or amber light visible from directly in front of the
center thereof except as authorized by subsection (d) of this
section.
(c) Except as authorized in subsections (d) and (f) 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 ambulances; firefighting vehicles; hazardous
material response vehicles; industrial fire brigade vehicles;
school buses; 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
such
the lights; Class A vehicles of members of ambulance services or
duly chartered rescue squads who are authorized by their
respective chiefs to have
such the lights; and 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
such
the lights. Red flashing warning lights attached to
such the
Class A vehicles shall be operated only when responding to or
engaged in handling an emergency requiring the attention of
such
the firefighters, members of
such the ambulance services, or
chartered rescue squads.
(3) The use of red flashing warning lights shall be
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, chapter seventeen-c.
(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 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) 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) 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.
(4) Yellow 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; and
(H) School buses.
(5) The use of yellow 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, chapter seventeen-c.
(e) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section,
any vehicle belonging to a county board of education
or an
organization receiving funding from the state or federal transit
administration for the purpose of providing general public
transportation may be equipped with a white flashing strobotron
warning light. This strobe light may be installed on the roof of a school bus
or a public transportation vehicle 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) It shall be 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 authorize the use of
strobotron warning lights on public transportation vehicles.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that
would be added.)