{"id":8496,"date":"2016-03-30T09:55:57","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T13:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myparkingsignblog.com\/blog\/?p=8496"},"modified":"2023-08-04T09:10:12","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T13:10:12","slug":"seat-belt-law-tightens-west-virginia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myparkingsign.com/blog\/seat-belt-law-tightens-west-virginia\/","title":{"rendered":"Seat belt law tightens in West Virginia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>West Virginia drivers may now be pulled over for seat belt violations \u2013 by themselves, without any other infractions\u00a0\u2013 if a new measure recently approved by the state&#8217;s House of Delegates 55-44 is passed by the Senate.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Currently, drivers, front-seat passengers and backseat passengers under age 18 are required to wear safety belts in West Virginia. However, not wearing a seat belt is considered a secondary offense. In other words, not wearing a seat belt can only be noted during a traffic stop for another violation. As a primary offense, however, not wearing a seat belt would be considered reason enough to be pulled over.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_28\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.roadtrafficsigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Welcome-to-West-Virginia.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-28\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-28 \" src=\"https:\/\/www.roadtrafficsigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Welcome-to-West-Virginia-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Welcome to West Virginia sign\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-28\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">With the fourth highest rate of fatal road accidents, driving in West Virginia can be wild indeed. Via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/75001512@N00\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Joelk75<\/a>; licensed under Creative Commons.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>What\u2019s next? The bill, which had been endorsed by the House Judiciary Committee in early March by 13-11, will be sent to the Senate. The Senate approved a similar measure last year. If passed, the fine will remain $25. However, violators may incur additional court costs that they would not have faced prior to this legislation.<\/p>\n<p>The AP reported that, based on the most recent NHTSA data, West Virginia had the fourth-worst road death rate in the country in 2010. Additionally, the state\u2019s seat belt use rate was eighty-two percent that year \u2013 which is below the nationwide rate of eighty-five percent.<\/p>\n<p>West Virginia\u2019s WSAZ, a local TV station, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsaz.com\/news\/headlines\/Buckling_Down_on_West_Virginia_Drivers_116205064.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">reported<\/a> in February that Charleston Police Sgt. Shawn Williams spoke out in favor of the bill. \u201cThere&#8217;s always usually three common denominators with fatalities in West Virginia: it&#8217;s either no seat belt, alcohol, or speed\u2026 If we can help eliminate one of those, by the passage of this law, then we consider it very successful.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_30\" style=\"width: 237px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.roadtrafficsigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Seat-Belt-Fasten-Sign-K-2051.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-30 \" src=\"https:\/\/www.roadtrafficsigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Seat-Belt-Fasten-Sign-K-2051-227x300.gif\" alt=\"Is your seat belt fastened? sign\" width=\"227\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-30\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">According to a Charleston official, road accidents in W. Va. nearly always involve either speed, alcohol, or an unfastened seat belt. Signage is one way to improve matters &#8211; but the law needs teeth, too. Via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myparkingsign.com\/seat-belt-signs\/is-your-seat-belt-fastened-sign\/sku-k-2051\">myparkingsign.com.<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iihs.org\/laws\/safetybeltuse.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\">Insurance Institute for Highway Safety<\/a>, all states except New Hampshire have mandatory safety belt laws on the books. In 16 states, including West Virginia, the use of seat belts can even affect civil lawsuits. (The &#8220;safety belt defense&#8221; means that damages collected due to a crash can be reduced if someone involved was not using a seat belt.)<\/p>\n<p>Thirty-one other states already treat lack of safety belt use as a primary, not secondary offense, including the neighboring states of Kentucky (applicable to passengers over 40 inches tall in all seats) and South Carolina (applicable to passengers age six and above in all seats). Other neighboring states, including Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania have secondary offense seat belt rules.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_31\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.roadtrafficsigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Seat-belt.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-31 \" src=\"https:\/\/www.roadtrafficsigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Seat-belt-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Seat belt\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-31\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The vote to strengthen seat belt laws wasn&#8217;t unanimous &#8211; opponents find the law tyrannical. Via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/bengoodger\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">goodgerster<\/a>; licensed under Creative Commons.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Eighteen Democrats opposed the bill while the House\u2019s 46 Republicans were split on the vote.<\/p>\n<p>Delegates shared their personal experiences with traffic-related accidents and deaths, citing family members and loved ones who had been affected by the belts. Yet there was dissension reported even among those who shared stories of personal loss. Delegate Jim Butler, a Republican, agreed that wearing a seatbelt is a &#8220;wise practice,&#8221; but argued that the measure would infringe upon the rights of the individual.<\/p>\n<p>Delegate Margaret Smith, a Democrat, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesleaderonline.com\/page\/content.detail\/id\/302875\/Stricter-seat-belt-law-passes-W-Va--House-.html?isap=1&amp;nav=5020\" rel=\"nofollow\">spoke<\/a> of how her brother died in a car crash. She voted for the bill, calling it one of the most significant votes she has cast. \u201cWe\u2019re going to save some lives,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>West Virginia drivers may now be pulled over for seat belt violations \u2013 by themselves, without any other infractions\u00a0\u2013 if a new measure recently approved by the state&#8217;s House of Delegates 55-44 is passed by the Senate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,577],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-transportation-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Seat belt law tightens in West Virginia - MyParkingSign Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"West Virginia drivers may now be pulled over for seat belt violations by themselves, without any other infractions if a new measure recently approved by the state\u2019s House of Delegates 55-44 is passed by the Senate.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myparkingsign.com/blog\/seat-belt-law-tightens-west-virginia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seat belt law tightens in West Virginia - MyParkingSign Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"West Virginia drivers may now be pulled over for seat belt violations by themselves, without any other infractions if a new measure recently approved by the state\u2019s House of Delegates 55-44 is passed by the Senate.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myparkingsign.com/blog\/seat-belt-law-tightens-west-virginia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MyParkingSign Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parkingsigns\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-30T13:55:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-04T13:10:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.roadtrafficsigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Welcome-to-West-Virginia-225x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Katy B. 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