Chapter 17C, Chapter 17C

(a) Front clearance lamps and those marker lamps and reflectors mounted on the front or on the side near the front of a vehicle shall display or reflect an amber color. (b) Rear clearance lamps and those marker lamps and reflectors mounted on the rear or on the sides near the rea…

(a) Reflectors when required by section nine of this article shall be mounted at a height not less than twenty-four inches and not higher than sixty inches above the ground on which the vehicle stands, except that if the highest part of the permanent structure of the vehicle is l…

(a) Every reflector upon any vehicle referred to in section nine of this article shall be of such size and characteristics and so maintained as to be readily visible at nighttime from all distances within five hundred feet to fifty feet from the vehicle when directly in front of …

Whenever motor and other vehicles are operated in combination during the time that lights are required, any lamp (except tail lamps) need not be lighted which, by reason of its location on a vehicle of the combination, would be obscured by another vehicle of the combination, but …

Whenever the load upon any vehicle extends to the rear four feet or more beyond the bed or body of such vehicle there shall be displayed at the extreme rear end of the load, at the times specified in section two of this article, a red light or lantern plainly visible from a dista…

(a) Whenever a vehicle is lawfully parked upon a street or highway during the hours between sunset and sunrise and in the event there is sufficient light to reveal any person or object within a distance of five hundred feet upon such street or highway no lights need be displayed …

All vehicles including animal-drawn vehicles and including those referred to in section one (c) of this article not hereinbefore specifically required to be equipped with lamps, shall at the times specified in section two of this article be equipped with at least one lighted lamp…

For the purposes of this section, a lamp or lighting device meets the requirements specified below so long as any portion of the illuminating surface of the lamp or lighting device is within the specified range. All lamps and lighting devices covered in this section may be instal…

(a) Any motor vehicle may be equipped and when required under this chapter shall be equipped with the following signal lamps or devices: (1) A stop lamp on the rear which shall emit a red or yellow light and which shall be actuated upon application of the service (foot) brake and…

(a) Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not more than two side cowl or fender lamps which shall emit an amber or white light without glare. (b) Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not more than one running board courtesy lamp on each side thereof which shall emit a white or…

Every vehicle other than a school bus, motorcycle, motor-driven cycle or moped operated upon a highway within this state at any time from sunset to sunrise, or during fog, smoke, rain or other unfavorable atmospheric conditions, or at any other time when there is not sufficient l…

Except as hereinafter provided, the head lamps or the auxiliary driving lamp or the auxiliary passing lamp or combinations thereof on motor vehicles other than a motorcycle, motor-driven cycle or moped shall be so arranged that the driver may select at will between distributions …

(a) Whenever a motor vehicle is being operated on a roadway or shoulder adjacent thereto during the times specified in section two, the driver shall use a distribution of light, or composite beam, directed high enough and of sufficient intensity to reveal persons and vehicles at …

Head lamps arranged to provide a single distribution of light shall be permitted on motor vehicles manufactured and sold prior to one year after the effective date of this chapter in lieu of multiple-beam road-lighting equipment herein specified if the single distribution of ligh…

The head lamp or head lamps upon every motorcycle, motor- driven cycle and moped may be of the single-beam or multiple-beam type but in either event shall comply with the requirements and limitations as follows: (1) Every head lamp or head lamps shall be of sufficient intensity t…

Any motor vehicle may be operated under the conditions specified in section two of this article when equipped with two lighted lamps upon the front thereof capable of revealing persons and objects seventy-five feet ahead in lieu of lamps required in section twenty or section twen…

(a) At all times specified in section two of this article at least two lighted lamps shall be displayed, one on each side at the front of every motor vehicle other than a motorcycle, motor-driven cycle or moped, except when such vehicle is parked subject to the regulations govern…

(a) Any lighted lamp or illuminating device upon a motor vehicle other than head lamps, spot lamps, auxiliary lamps, or flashing front-direction signals which projects a beam of light of an intensity greater than 300 candlepower shall be so directed that no part of the beam will …

(a) The state road commission shall adopt standards and specifications applicable to head lamps, clearance lamps, identification and other lamps on snow removal equipment when operated on the highways of this state in lieu of the lamps otherwise required on motor vehicles by this…

(a) No person shall have for sale, sell, or offer for sale for use upon or as a part of the equipment of a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer, or use upon any such vehicle any head lamp, auxiliary, or fog lamp, rear lamp, signal lamp, or reflector, which reflector is required…

(a) Whenever requirement is hereinafter declared as to the distance from which certain lamps and devices shall render objects visible or within which such lamps or devices shall be visible said provisions shall apply during the times stated in section two of this article in respe…

When the state road commissioner has reason to believe that an approved device as being sold commercially does not comply with the requirements of this chapter, he may, after giving thirty days' previous notice to the person holding the certificate of approval for such device in …

(a) Brake equipment required. -- (1) Every motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle, motor-driven cycle or moped, when operated upon a highway shall be equipped with brakes adequate to control the movement of and to stop and hold such vehicle, including two separate means of applyi…

(a) The commissioner is authorized to require an inspection of the brake on any motorcycle, motor-driven cycle or moped and to disapprove any such brake which he finds will not comply with the performance ability standard set forth in section thirty-one of this article, or which …

(a) Every motor vehicle when operated upon a highway shall be equipped with a horn in good working order and capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions from a distance of not less than two hundred feet, but no horn or other warning device shall emit an unreasonably…

(a) Every motor vehicle shall at all times be equipped with a muffler in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise. Such muffler shall be the muffler originally installed by the manufacturer of the vehicle or, if a replacement, the equival…

Every motor vehicle which is so constructed or loaded as to obstruct the driver's view to the rear thereof from the driver's position shall be equipped with a mirror so located as to reflect to the driver a view of the highway for a distance of at least two hundred feet to the re…

(a) No person shall drive any motor vehicle with any sign, poster, or other nontransparent material upon the front windshield, side wings, or side or rear windows of such vehicle which obstructs the driver's clear view of the highway or any intersecting highway. (b) The windshiel…

(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 w…

(a) Every solid rubber tire on a vehicle shall have rubber on its entire traction surface at least one inch thick above the edge of the flange of the entire periphery. (b) No person shall operate or move on any highway any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer having any metal t…

(a) No person shall operate any motor truck, passenger bus, road tractor or truck tractor upon any highway outside the corporate limits of municipalities at any time from a half hour after sunset to a half hour before sunrise unless there shall be carried in such vehicle the foll…

(a) Every motor vehicle other than a motorcycle, motor- driven cycle or moped shall be equipped with at least two head lamps with at least one on each side of the front of the motor vehicle, which head lamps shall comply with the requirements and limitations set forth in this art…

(a) Whenever any motor truck, passenger bus, truck tractor, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer is disabled upon the traveled portion of any highway or the shoulder thereof outside of any municipality at any time when lighted lamps are required on vehicles the driver of such ve…

Any person operating any vehicle transporting any explosive as a cargo or part of a cargo upon a highway shall at all times comply with the provisions of this section. (a) Said vehicle shall be marked or placarded on each side and the rear with the word "Explosives" in letters no…

(a) No motor vehicle may be operated on a street or highway in this state when equipped with a television receiver, video monitor, television or video screen unless the receiver, screen or monitor is configured so that the moving images are not in view of the operator while the v…

No dealer in new or used automobiles shall sell, lease, transfer or trade, at retail, any passenger automobile which is manufactured after January 1, 1965, unless such vehicle is equipped with safety seat belts for the front seat, which seat belts shall meet the standards set and…

(a) A person may not operate or be a passenger on any motorcycle or motor-driven cycle unless the person is wearing securely fastened on his or her head by either a neck or chin strap a protective helmet designed to deflect blows, resist penetration, and spread impact forces. Any…

Every moped sold in this state shall have permanently affixed to it a certification label which shall contain the following information: (1) Name of manufacturer; (2) Month and year of manufacture; (3) Gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR); (4) Gross axle weight rating for front and…

Every driver who transports a child under the age of eight years in a passenger automobile, van or pickup truck other than one operated for hire shall, while the motor vehicle is in motion and operated on a street or highway of this state, provide for the protection of the child …

Every vehicle used in any business in West Virginia for towing wrecked or disabled vehicles shall carry a safety chain at all times. No such towing vehicle may tow a wrecked or disabled vehicle unless a safety chain is securely in place coupling the towing vehicle to the vehicle …

(a) No person may operate upon a public highway any motor vehicle registered or required to be registered in this state if it has been modified by alteration of its height from the ground to the extent that its bumpers, measured to any point on the lower edge of the main horizont…

(a) A person may not operate a passenger vehicle on a public street or highway of this state unless the person, any passenger in the back seat under 18 years of age, and any passenger in the front seat of the passenger vehicle is restrained by a safety belt meeting applicable fed…

The admissibility of evidence of the failure of an occupant of a passenger vehicle to use a safety belt in any civil action is governed by the following rules: (a) Definitions. — For the purposes of this section: (1) “Adult” means a person who is 18 years of age or older; (2) “Ch…

(a) Every motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer, and any other vehicle which is being drawn at the end of a train of vehicles, shall be equipped with at least one tail lamp mounted on the rear, which, when lighted as hereinbefore required, shall emit a red light plainly visible f…

(a) For purposes of this section: (1) “Air bag” means an inflatable occupant supplemental restraint system, including all component parts, such as the cover, sensors, controllers, inflators, and wiring, designed to activate in a motor vehicle in the event of a crash to mitigate i…

(a) Unless otherwise provided for in this article and, except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, any person violating the provisions of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $100; upon a second con…

Those sections of this chapter which follow immediately, including sections nine, ten, eleven, twelve and thirteen of this article, and relating to clearance and marker lamps, reflectors, and stop lights shall apply as stated in said sections to vehicles of the type therein enume…

In addition to other equipment required in this chapter the following vehicles shall be equipped as herein stated under the conditions stated in section eight of this article. (a) On every bus or truck, whatever its size, there shall be the following: On the rear, two reflectors,…

No person shall drive or move on any highway any motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer, or any combination thereof unless the equipment upon any and every said vehicle is in good working order and adjustment as required in this chapter and said vehicle is in such s…

(a) The department of public safety may at any time upon reasonable cause to believe that a vehicle is unsafe or not equipped as required by law, or that its equipment is not in proper adjustment or repair, require the driver of such vehicle to stop and submit such vehicle to an …