Senate Bill No. 252
(By Senators Snyder,
Hunter, Jenkins, Oliverio, Rowe, Kessler,
Unger and White)
____________
[Introduced January 21, 2004; referred to the Committee on
Transportation; 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 chapter, designated §17F-1-1, §17F-1-2,
§17F-1-3,
§17F-1-4 and
§17F-1-5
, all relating to child safety
in regard to all-terrain vehicles; creating the child safety
all-terrain vehicle act of 2004; requiring children under the
age of eighteen riding or operating an all-terrain vehicle to
wear an approved helmet; prohibiting passengers in certain
circumstances; prohibiting children under the age of eighteen
from riding or operating an all-terrain vehicle after sunset
unless accompanied by a parent or guardian; requiring certain
safety equipment on all-terrain vehicles; setting speed limits
for operation of an all-terrain vehicle by a child under the
age of eighteen; prohibiting operation of an all-terrain
vehicle in a careless or reckless manner; authorizing law-
enforcement officers to enter private lands in pursuit of an
all-terrain vehicle when a violation of law has occurred; requiring written permission to operate an all-terrain vehicle
on private lands; requiring safety training; establishing
safety training requirements and exemptions; requiring all-
terrain vehicle rental dealers to provide safety equipment;
and establishing criminal penalties.
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 chapter, designated §17F-1-1, §17F-1-2,
§17F-1-3,
§17F-1-4 and
§17F-1-5
,
all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 17F. ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLES.
ARTICLE 1. THE CHILD SAFETY ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE ACT.
§17F-1
-1. Short title.
This article shall be known and
may be cited as "The Child
Safety All-Terrain Vehicle Act".
§17F-1-2. Acts prohibited by operator.
(a) In addition to any other provision of this code requiring
measures for child safety, no all-terrain vehicle may be operated
in West Virginia by a person less than eighteen years of age or
with a passenger less than eighteen years of age as follows:
(1) Unless all persons on the all-terrain vehicle who are
under the age of eighteen are wearing protective helmets. Any
helmet worn by such child shall meet the current performance
specifications estab
lished by the American National Standards
Institute Standard, Z 90.1, the United States Department of
Transportation Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 218 or the
Snell Safety Standards for Protective Headgear for Vehicle Users;
(3) With any passenger, unless the manufacturer has specified
that the all-terrain vehicle is designed for and may be safely used
by a rider and one or more passengers;
(4) Anytime from sunset to sunrise unless accompanied by a
parent or guardian and utilizing the vehicle's illuminated
headlight or lights and tail lights;
(5) Without a manufacturer-installed or equivalent spark
arrester and muffler in proper working order and properly connected
to the vehicle's exhaust system;
(6) Unless having completed safety training as required in
section two of this article;
(7) In a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger or
cause injury or damage to any person or property.
(8) When operated at a speed greater than the speed allowed
for motor vehicles passing near a school while children are
present.
(c) No provision of this section may be construed to prohibit
a municipal, county or state law-enforcement officer from entering
upon private lands while in active pursuit of an operator of an
all-terrain vehicle who is a child or who may be operating an all-
terrain vehicle with a child passenger, and who has violated a
provision of this section if the violation occurred in the
officer's presence.
(d) No operator of an all-terrain vehicle who is a child or
who has a child passenger may operate an all-terrain vehicle upon
the fenced, enclosed or posted grounds or lands of another person without the written permission of the landowner or authorized agent
of the landowner. Each operator while operating an all-terrain
vehicle on such land must have the landowner's or his or her
authorized agent's written permission in his or her possession.
§17F-1-3. Safety training.
(a) On and after the first day of January, two thousand five,
the commissioner of the division of motor vehicles shall offer a
free all-terrain vehicle rider safety training course, and may
approve other free all-terrain vehicle rider safety training
courses, to meet the reasonably anticipated needs of the public.
The commissioner shall offer safety training course materials free
of charge to authorized dealers of all-terrain vehicles, the
materials and courses shall be provided by the authorized dealers
free of charge to purchasers and potential purchasers.
(b) The commissioner shall issue certificates of completion to
persons who satisfactorily complete the requirements of an approved
course. The commissioner may authorize a dealer of all-terrain
vehicles to issue the certificates of completion so long as the
dealer has provided a free rider safety training course, as
authorized and approved by the division.
(c) On and after the first day of January, two thousand five,
a person under the age of eighteen years old may operate an all-
terrain vehicle only after obtaining a certificate of completion of
an all-terrain vehicle rider training course offered or approved by
the commissioner. A person with a valid driver's license who is
eighteen years of age or older may operate an all-terrain vehicle without a certificate of completion.
(d) The certificate of completion shall specify the engine
capacity of the all-terrain vehicle the certificate holder is
authorized to operate. The determination of authorized engine
capacity may be based upon the age, size, strength and coordination
of the child and his or her proven ability to safely operate an
all-terrain vehicle of a specified size. The parent or legal
guardian of a child under the age of eighteen may request that the
commissioner certify a larger engine capacity all-terrain vehicle
for the child if the child has safely operated an all-terrain
vehicle with a larger engine capacity prior to the enactment of
this article. The parent or legal guardian must certify that the
all-terrain vehicle is owned by the child, parent, legal guardian
or grandparent of the child and that it is primarily used by the
child. The child must satisfactorily complete an approved safety
training course on the larger all-terrain vehicle. The provisions
of this subsection that authorize the certification of children for
operation of larger that the approved size for all-terrain vehicles
by the commissioner of motor vehicles expires twenty-four months
after the enactment of this article.
§17F-1-4. All-terrain vehicle rental dealers required to provide
safety equipment.
Any person or entity renting or leasing all-terrain vehicles
for recreational purposes must provide protective helmets as
defined by the provisions of section forty-four, article fifteen,
chapter seventeen-c of this code to all persons using such vehicles who are under the age of eighteen and offer protective helmets to
all persons eighteen years of age and older using the rented or
leased vehicles: Provided, That for the provisions of this section
to be applicable, the users of the all-terrain vehicle must be
known to the person or entity providing the rented or leased
vehicle.
§17F-1-5. Criminal penalties.
(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this
section and in addition to any other legal remedy for violation of
civil or criminal provisions of this code, any person who violates
or who owns or has control over an all-terrain vehicle and
knowingly permits it to be used by a child in violation of the
provisions of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one hundred
dollars.
(b) Any parent, legal guardian or person who has actual
responsibility for a child under eighteen years of age who knows or
should have known the child is operating or is a passenger on an
all terrain vehicle without a helmet as required under the
provisions of §17F-1-1(a)(9) is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall,
upon conviction of a first offense, be fined not less than fifty
dollars nor more than one hundred dollars or, in the discretion of
the court, sentenced to preform not more than ten hours of
community service or both. Upon conviction of a second offense he
or she shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more
than two hundred dollars or, in the discretion of the court, sentenced to preform not more than twenty hours of community
service or both. Upon conviction of a third or subsequent offense
he or she shall be fined not less than two hundred dollars nor more
than five hundred dollars or, in the discretion of the court,
sentenced to preform not more than one hundred hours of community
service or both.
Note: The purpose of this bill is to provide for safety and
training for children riding or operating all-terrain vehicles in
West Virginia.
This chapter is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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