Senate Bill No. 115
(By Senators Prezioso, Guills, Foster, Stollings and Kessler)
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[Introduced February 11, 2009; referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure; and then to the Committee on
the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §16-9A-10, relating
to prohibiting smoking of tobacco products in a motor vehicle
while an individual fourteen years of age or less is present;
setting forth legislative findings; definitions; violation of
section a secondary offense; providing penalties; and local
ordinances or regulations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §16-9A-10, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 9A. TOBACCO USAGE RESTRICTIONS.
§16-9A-10. Smoking prohibited in motor vehicle while a person
fourteen years of age or less is present; penalties.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares that it is the policy
of this state to protect minors from the dangers of secondhand
smoke. The Legislature further finds that minors are often
subjected to secondhand smoke within the confined area of a motor
vehicle as a necessity of availing themselves of available
transportation. It is the intent of the Legislature to ease the
dangers of secondhand smoke in motor vehicles by prohibiting lit
tobacco products in certain motor vehicles while anyone fourteen
years of age or less is present.
(b) No person who is eighteen years of age or older may smoke
or possess a lit tobacco product in a motor vehicle if an
individual fourteen years of age or less is in the motor vehicle.
(c) For purposes of this section:
(1) A "lit tobacco product" is any lighted pipe, cigarette,
cigar or other lighted device or product containing a tobacco-based
product manufactured or made for the purpose of smoking.
(2) A motor vehicle is defined as a Class A, Class B, Class H
or Class J vehicle as those terms are defined in section one,
article ten, chapter seventeen-a of this code.
(d) Any person who violates this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less
than $10 nor more than $20. 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 vehicle, as defined in this section, has been detained
for probable cause of violating another section of this code.
(e) Nothing in this section is meant to limit any local
ordinance or regulation with respect to protection of the public
from exposure to tobacco smoke.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit the use of lit
tobacco products in a motor vehicle while individuals fourteen
years of age or under are present.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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