ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 558
(By Senators Craigo, Unger, Walker, Minard and Mitchell)
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[Passed March 11, 2000; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact section one, article two, chapter
seventeen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; relating to driver's licenses;
and requiring color coding of licenses according to age of
driver and authorizing endorsement of appropriate graduated
driver license level.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article two, chapter seventeen-b of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. ISSUANCE OF LICENSE, EXPIRATION AND RENEWAL.
§17B-2-1. Drivers must be licensed; types of licenses; licensees
need not obtain local government license; motorcycle
driver license; identification cards.
(a) No person, except those hereinafter expressly exempted, may drive any motor vehicle upon a street or highway in this state
or upon any subdivision street, as used in article twenty-four,
chapter eight of this code, when the use of the subdivision street
is generally used by the public unless the person has a valid
driver's license under the provisions of this code for the type or
class of vehicle being driven.
Any person licensed to operate a motor vehicle as provided in
this code may exercise the privilege thereby granted as provided in
this code and, except as otherwise provided by law, shall not be
required to obtain any other license to exercise the privilege by
any county, municipality or local board or body having authority to
adopt local police regulations.
(b) The division, upon issuing a driver's license, shall
indicate on the license the type or general class or classes of
vehicle or vehicles the licensee may operate in accordance with the
provisions of this code, federal law or rule. Licenses shall be
issued in different colors for those drivers under age eighteen,
those drivers age eighteen to twenty-one, and adult drivers. The
commissioner is authorized to select and assign colors to the
licenses of the various age groups. The commissioner shall
implement color-coded licenses on or before the first day of January, two thousand one.
(c) Driver's licenses issued by the division shall be
classified in the following manner:
(1) Class A, B or C license shall be issued to those persons
eighteen years of age or older with two years driving experience
and who have qualified for the commercial driver's license
established by chapter seventeen-e of this code and the federal
Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986, Title XII of public
law 99-570 and subsequent rules, and have paid the required fee.
(2) Class D license shall be issued to those persons eighteen
years and older with one year driving experience who operate motor
vehicles other than those types of vehicles which require the
operator to be licensed under the provisions of chapter seventeen-e
of this code and federal law and rule and whose primary function or
employment is the transportation of persons or property for
compensation or wages and have paid the required fee. For the
purposes of the regulation of the operation of a motor vehicle,
wherever the term chauffeur's license is used in this code, it
shall be construed to mean the Class A, B, C or D license described
in this section or chapter seventeen-e of this code or federal law
or rule:
Provided, That anyone who is not required to be licensed under the provisions of chapter seventeen-e of this code and
federal law or rule and who operates a motor vehicle which is
registered or which is required to be registered as a Class A motor
vehicle as that term is defined in section one, article ten,
chapter seventeen-a of this code with a gross vehicle weight rating
of less than eight thousand one pounds, is not required to obtain
a Class D license.
(3) Class E license shall be issued to those persons who have
qualified under the provisions of this chapter and who are not
required to obtain a Class A, B, C or D license and who have paid
the required fee. The Class E license may be endorsed under the
provisions of section seven-b of this article for motorcycle
operation. The Class E license for any person under the age of
eighteen may also be endorsed with the appropriate graduated driver
license level in accordance with the provisions of section three-a
of this article.
(4) Class F license shall be issued to those persons who
successfully complete the motorcycle examination procedure provided
for by this chapter and have paid the required fee, but who do not
possess a Class A, B, C and D or E driver's license.
(5) All licenses issued under this section may contain information designating the licensee as a diabetic, if the licensee
requests this information on the license.
(d) No person, except those hereinafter expressly exempted,
shall drive any motorcycle upon a street or highway in this state
or upon any subdivision street, as used in article twenty-four,
chapter eight of this code, when the use of the subdivision street
is generally used by the public unless the person has a valid
motorcycle license or a valid license which has been endorsed under
section seven-b of this article for motorcycle operation or has a
valid motorcycle instruction permit.
(e) (1) A nondriver identification card may be issued to any
person who:
(A) Is a resident of this state in accordance with the
provisions of section one-a, article three, chapter seventeen-a of
this code;
(B) Does not have a valid driver's license;
(C) Has reached the age of two years. The division may also
issue a nondriver identification card to a person under the age of
two years for good cause shown;
(D) Has paid the required fee of two dollars and fifty cents
per year for each year the identification card is issued to be valid:
Provided, That the fee is not required if the applicant is
sixty-five years or older or is legally blind; and
(E) Presents a birth certificate or other proof of age and
identity acceptable to the division with a completed application on
a form furnished by the division.
(2) The nondriver identification card shall contain the same
information as a driver's license except that the identification
card shall be clearly marked as identification card. However, the
division may issue an identification card with less information to
persons under the age of sixteen. It may be renewed on application
and payment of the fee required by this section.
(A) Every identification card issued to persons who have
attained their twenty-first birthday shall expire on the day of the
month designated by the commissioner in which the applicant's
birthday occurs in those years in which the applicant's age is
evenly divisible by five. Except as provided in paragraph (B) of
this subdivision, no identification card may be issued for less
than three years nor more than seven years and shall be valid for
a period of five years expiring in the month in which the
applicant's birthday occurs and in a year in which the applicant's
age is evenly divisible by five.
(B) Every identification card issued to persons who have not
attained their twenty-first birthday shall expire on the day of the
month designated by the commissioner in the year in which the
applicant attains the age of twenty-one years.
(C) Every identification card issued to persons under the age
of sixteen shall expire on the day of the month designated by the
commissioner in which the applicant's birthday occurs and shall be
issued for a period of two years.
(3) The identification card shall be surrendered to the
division when the holder is issued a driver's license. The
division may issue an identification card to an applicant whose
privilege to operate a motor vehicle has been refused, canceled,
suspended or revoked under the provisions of this code.
(f) Any person violating the provisions of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not more than five hundred dollars; and upon a second or
subsequent conviction, shall be fined not more than five hundred
dollars, or confined in the county or regional jail not more than
six months, or both.
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