Chapter 17C, Chapter 17C

The driver of any vehicle involved in a crash resulting only in damage to a vehicle which is driven or attended by any person shall immediately stop such vehicle at the scene of such crash or as close thereto as possible but shall forthwith return to and in every event shall rema…

(a) (1) The driver of any vehicle involved in a crash resulting in injury to or death of any person or damage to any vehicle which is driven or attended by any person shall, if physically able to do so, provide to the person struck or the driver or occupant of or person attending…

The driver of any vehicle which collides with any vehicle which is unattended shall immediately stop and shall then and there either locate and notify the operator or owner of such vehicle of the name and address of the driver and owner of the vehicle striking the unattended vehi…

The driver of any vehicle involved in a crash resulting only in damage to fixtures or other property legally upon or adjacent to a highway shall take reasonable steps to locate and notify the owner or person in charge of such property of such fact and of his or her name and addre…

The driver of a vehicle involved in a crash resulting in injury to or death of any person or total property damage to an apparent extent of $1,000 or more shall immediately by the quickest means of communication, give notice of such crash to the local police department if such cr…

(a) Every law-enforcement officer who, in the regular course of duty, investigates a motor vehicle crash occurring on the public streets or highways of this state resulting in bodily injury to, or death of, any person or total property damage to an apparent extent of $1,000 or mo…

Whenever the driver of a vehicle is physically incapable of making an immediate notification of a crash as required in section six of this article and there was another occupant in the vehicle at the time of the crash capable of making a notification, such occupant shall make or …

(a) The Division of Highways shall prepare and upon request supply to the State Police, municipal police departments, sheriffs, Division of Natural Resources, and other suitable agencies or individuals, electronic or paper forms for crash reports required hereunder. (b) The forma…

(a) When any motor vehicle driver or adult pedestrian dies in a motor vehicle crash in this state or dies within four hours after having been involved in a motor vehicle crash in this state, the physician in attendance, or law-enforcement officer having knowledge of such death, o…

The purpose of this article is to avoid the imposition of sanctions against this state and the loss of federal-aid highway construction funds under section 1405(a) of the federal Transportation Equity Act for the Twenty-first Century (23 U.S.C. §154), as amended, which requires s…

(a) Any law-enforcement officer investigating a person for an offense described in §17C-5-2 of this code, or for an offense described in a municipal ordinance which has the same elements as an offense described in said section, shall report to the Commissioner of the Division of …

(a) When the death of any person, including an embryo or fetus as defined in §61-2-30 of this code, other than the person operating the motor vehicle, ensues within one year as the proximate result of injury caused by the driving of any motor vehicle anywhere in this state by any…

A reasonable fee shall be allowed to the person withdrawing a blood sample at the request and direction of a law-enforcement officer in accordance with the provisions of this article. If the person whose blood sample was withdrawn was arrested and charged with a violation of §17C…

(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of section five, article twelve, chapter eight of this code, on and after September 1, 1983, each and every municipal ordinance defining a misdemeanor offense of or relating to driving under the influence of alcohol or driving under the influenc…

On or before December 31, 2020, the Bureau for Public Health shall submit to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance a report that includes the following: (1) Recommendations for the minimum levels of those drugs or controlled substances contained in §17C-5-8(d) of this cod…

(a) When a law-enforcement officer has probable cause to believe a surviving operator of a motor vehicle in a crash resulting in the death of another person has committed an offense prohibited by §17C-5-2 of this code or by an ordinance of a municipality of this state which has t…

(a) The Commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles shall revoke or suspend a person’s license to operate a motor vehicle in any of the following circumstances: (1) The person is convicted of an offense defined in §17C-5-2 of this code, which requires a minimum period of revoc…

(a) Definitions. (1) "Impaired state" means a person: (A) Is under the influence of alcohol; (B) Is under the influence of any controlled substance; (C) Is under the influence of any other drug or inhalant substance; (D) Is under the combined influence of alcohol and any controll…

(a) Each county medical examiner shall immediately report the results of each blood test conducted under the authority of §17C-5B-1 of this code by him or her, or conducted at his or her request, to the chief medical examiner of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and to the…

For the purposes of this article, the words or terms defined in this article have the meanings ascribed to them: (a) "Alcoholic beverage" means: (1) Alcoholic liquor as defined in section five, article one, chapter sixty of this code; and (2) Nonintoxicating beer as defined in se…

The Division of Motor Vehicles is hereby authorized and required to assess witness costs at the same rate as witness fees in circuit court and a docket fee of $15 for each hearing request against any person filing a request for a hearing under section two of this article who fail…

(a) For purposes of this article and §17C-5A-1 et seq. of this code, the phrase “in this state” shall mean anywhere within the physical boundaries of this state, including, but not limited to, publicly maintained streets and highways, and subdivision streets or other areas not pu…

Notwithstanding any other provision of this code: (1) The provisions of §17C-5A-2 of this code apply only to proceedings arising from offenses occurring on or before June 30, 2020; and (2) The provisions of §17C-5A-2 of this code have no force or effect beginning on the date when…

(a) (1) Except as provided in subsection (f) of this section, the court, without entering a judgment of guilt and with the consent of the accused, shall defer further proceedings and impose probation, when: (A) The person pleads to or is found guilty of the offense defined in §17…

(a) Any person who drives any vehicle upon any street or highway, or upon any residential street, or in any parking area, or upon the ways of any institution of higher education, whether public or private, or upon the ways of any state institution, or upon the property of any cou…

(a) The Division of Motor Vehicles shall administer a comprehensive safety and treatment program for persons whose licenses have been suspended or revoked under the provisions of §17B-3-5(6), §17C-5-2, §17C-5-2a, or §17C-5-7a of this code and shall also establish the minimum qual…

(a) It is unlawful for the operator or a passenger of a motor vehicle to consume any alcoholic beverage in the passenger area of a motor vehicle located on a public highway or right-of-way of a public highway in this state, whether the vehicle is in motion or at rest. (b) It is u…

(a) (1) The Division of Motor Vehicles shall control and regulate a Motor Vehicle Alcohol and Drug Test and Lock Program for persons whose licenses have been revoked pursuant to this article or the provisions of §17C-5-1 et seq. of this code or have been convicted under §17C-5-2 …

If a person is arrested for an offense under the provisions of this article, unless the provisions of section three, article nineteen of this chapter require that the person arrested be taken immediately before a magistrate for an offense described in that section, the provisions…

The commissioner shall immediately upon receipt of the statements required by section seven, article five of this chapter and section one of this article record the date and time of day of the receipt of such statements and shall forthwith cause a search of the appropriate record…

(a) Any person who drives a motor vehicle in this state is considered to have given his or her consent by the operation of the motor vehicle to a preliminary breath analysis and a secondary chemical test of either his or her blood or breath to determine the alcohol concentration …

When a law-enforcement officer has reason to believe a person has committed an offense prohibited by §17C-5-2 of this code or by an ordinance of a municipality of this state which has the same elements as an offense described in §17C-5-2 of this code, the law-enforcement officer …

Only a doctor of medicine or osteopathy, or registered nurse, or trained medical technician, or any professional trained in phlebotomy at the place of his or her employment, acting at the request and direction of the law-enforcement officer, may withdraw blood to determine the al…

(a) A preliminary breath analysis may be administered to a child whenever a law-enforcement official has reasonable cause to believe the child to have been driving a motor vehicle with any amount of alcohol in his or her blood for the purpose of determining the child’s blood alco…

(a) If any person under arrest, as specified in §17C-5-4 of this code, refuses to submit to a secondary chemical test, the test shall not be given. (b) Upon requesting that a person submit to the secondary test, designated pursuant to §17C-5-4 of this code, the person shall be gi…

(a) For the purposes of this section, the term "refusal review hearing" refers to a hearing to review a person’s alleged refusal to submit to a secondary chemical test, as documented in a statement submitted to the court by a law-enforcement officer pursuant to §17C-5-7 of this c…

(a) Upon trial for the offense of driving a motor vehicle in this state while under the influence of alcohol, controlled substances or drugs, or upon the trial of any civil or criminal action arising out of acts alleged to have been committed by any person driving a motor vehicle…

Any person lawfully arrested for driving a motor vehicle in this state while under the influence of alcohol, controlled substances or drugs shall have the right to demand that a sample or specimen of his or her blood or breath to determine the alcohol concentration of his or her …

(a) No person may drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the existing conditions and the actual and potential hazards. In every event speed shall be controlled as necessary to avoid colliding with any person, vehicle, or other conveya…

In addition to enforcement by officers and other persons authorized by law, commercial vehicle enforcement officers of the Public Service Commission of West Virginia may enforce the provisions of this article as they relate to the operation of commercial motor vehicles.

(a) No person shall drive a motor vehicle and meet or overtake from either direction a stopped waste service vehicle at a speed in excess of fifteen miles per hour. (b) For purposes of this section, "waste service vehicle" means any garbage collection vehicle, including a vehicle…

Whenever the state road commissioner shall determine upon the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation that any speed limit set forth in this article is greater or less than is reasonable or safe under the conditions found to exist at any intersection or other place or u…

(a) At intersection. -- Whenever local authorities within their respective jurisdictions determine upon the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation that the speed permitted under this chapter at any intersection is greater than is reasonable or safe under the conditions…

(a) No person shall drive a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic except when reduced speed is necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law. (b) Whenever the commissioner or local authorities within their respectiv…

Subject to all other speed restrictions of this chapter no person shall drive a vehicle not designed for carrying passengers and equipped with pneumatic tires at a speed in excess of: (1) Twenty miles per hour in any business district; (2) Twenty-five miles per hour in any reside…

(a) No person shall drive any vehicle equipped with other than pneumatic tires at a speed greater than a maximum of ten miles per hour. (b) No person shall drive a vehicle over any bridge or other elevated structure constituting a part of a highway at a speed which is greater tha…

(a) In every charge of violation of any speed regulations in this chapter the complaint, also the summons or notice to appear, shall specify the speed at which the defendant is alleged to have driven, also the speed applicable within the district or at the location and in the eve…

The speed of a motor vehicle may be proved by evidence obtained by use of any device designed to measure and indicate or record the speed of a moving object by means of microwaves or reflected light, when such evidence is obtained by members of the State Police, by police officer…

(a) As used in this section "traffic law photo-monitoring device" means an electronic system consisting of a photographic, video, or electronic camera and a means of sensing the presence of a motor vehicle that automatically produces photographs, videotape, or digital images of t…

The Legislature hereby determines and finds that the racing of motor vehicles on the public streets and highways of this state, whether within or in excess of the lawful speed limit (much of which racing is commonly referred to as "illegal street racing"), is extremely dangerous …