H. B. 4108
(By Delegates Perry, Stemple, Shaver,
Crosier, Pino, Howard and Sumner)
[Introduced
January 22, 2004
; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §17C-15-36a of the code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to motor vehicle
equipment; and authorizing sun screening devices that exceed
statutory limits to be used in law-enforcement K-9 and other
emergency vehicles that haul animals.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17C-15-36a
of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15. EQUIPMENT.
§17C-15-36a. Sun screening devices; penalty.
(a) No person may operate a motor vehicle that is registered
or required to be registered in the state on any public highway,
road or street that has a sun screening device on the windshield,
the front side wings and side windows adjacent to the right and
left of the driver and windows adjacent to the rear of the driver that do not meet the requirements of this section: Provided, That
law-enforcement K-9 and other emergency
vehicles that are designed
to haul animals are exempt from this requirement.
(b) A sun screening device when used in conjunction with the
windshield must be nonreflective and may not be red, yellow or
amber in color. A sun screening device may be used only along the
top of the windshield and may not extend downward beyond the ASI
line or more than five inches from the top of the windshield
whichever is closer to the top of the windshield.
(c) A sun screening device when used in conjunction with the
automotive safety glazing materials of the side wings or side
windows located at the immediate right and left of the driver shall
be a nonreflective type with reflectivity of not more than twenty
percent and have a light transmission of not less than thirty-five
percent. The side windows behind the driver and the rear most
windows may have a sun screening device that is designed to be used
on automotive safety glazing materials that has a light
transmission of not less than thirty-five percent and a
reflectivity of not more than twenty percent. If a sun screening
device is used on glazing behind the driver, one right and one left
outside rear view mirror is required.
(d) Each manufacturer shall:
(1) Certify to the West Virginia state police and division of
motor vehicles that a sun screening device used by it is in compliance with the reflectivity and transmittance requirements of
this section;
(2) Provide a label not to exceed one and one-half square
inches in size, with a means for the permanent and legible
installations between the sun screening material and each glazing
surface to which it is applied that contains the manufacturer's
name and its percentage of light transmission; and
(3) Include instructions with the product or material for
proper installation, including the affixing of the label specified
in this section. The labeling or marking must be placed in the
left lower corner of each glazing surface when facing the vehicle
from the outside.
(e) No person may:
(1) Offer for sale or for use any sun screening product or
material for motor vehicle use not in compliance with this section;
or
(2) Install any sun screening product or material on vehicles
intended for use on public roads without permanently affixing the
label specified in this section.
(f) The provisions of this section do not apply to a motor
vehicle registered in this state in the name of a person, or the
person's legal guardian, who has an affidavit signed by a physician
or an optometrist licensed to practice in this state that states
that the person has a physical condition that makes it necessary to equip the motor vehicle with sun screening material which would be
of a light transmittance or luminous reflectance in violation of
this section. The affidavit must be in the possession of the
person so afflicted, or the person's legal guardian, at all times
while being transported in the motor vehicle.
(g) The light transmittance requirement of this section does
not apply to windows behind the driver on trucks, buses, trailers,
mobile homes and multipurpose passenger vehicles.
(h) As used in this section:
(1) "Bus" means a motor vehicle with motive power, except a
trailer, designed for carrying more than ten persons.
(2) "Light transmission" means the ratio of the amount of
total light to pass through a product or material to the amount of
the total light falling on the product or material.
(3) "Luminous reflectants" means the ratio of the amount of
total light that is reflected outward by the product or material to
the amount of the total light falling on the product or materials.
(4) "Manufacturer" means any person engaged in the
manufacturing or assembling of sun screening products or materials
designed to be used in conjunction with vehicle glazing materials
for the purpose of reducing the effects of the sun.
(5) "Motor homes" means vehicular units designed to provide
temporary living quarters built into and an integral part of or
permanently attached to a self-propelled motor vehicle chassis.
(6) "Multipurpose passenger vehicle" means a motor vehicle
with motive power, except a trailer, designed to carry ten persons
or less which is constructed either on a truck chassis or with
special features for occasional off-road operation.
(7) "Nonreflective" means a product or material designed to
absorb light rather than to reflect it.
(8) "Passenger car" means a motor vehicle with motive power,
except a multipurpose passenger vehicle, motorcycle or trailer,
designed for carrying ten persons or less.
(9) "Sun screening device" means film material or device that
is designed to be used in conjunction with motor vehicle safety
glazing materials for reducing the effects of the sun.
(10) "Truck" means a motor vehicle with motive power, except
a trailer, designed primarily for the transportation of property or
special purpose equipment.
(i) Any person violating the provisions of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not more than two hundred dollars.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.