Bill Text: WV SB382 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Removing requirement that Commissioner of DOH regulate studded tires
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-02-22 - To Transportation and Infrastructure [SB382 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2021-SB382-Introduced.html
WEST virginia legislature
2021 regular session
Introduced
Senate Bill 382
By Senator Clements
[Introduced February 22,
2021; referred
to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure]
A BILL to amend and reenact §17C-15-37 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to removing inoperative provisions requiring Commissioner of Highways set standards for studded snow tires.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 15. EQUIPMENT.
§17C-15-37. Tire equipment restrictions; rules and regulations as to certain tires.
(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 tire in contact with the roadway.
(c) No tire on a vehicle moved on a highway shall have on its periphery any block, stud, flange, cleat or spike or any other protuberance of any material other than rubber which projects beyond the tread of the traction surface of the tire, except that (1) it shall be permissible to use farm machinery with tires having protuberances which will not injure the highway, (2) it shall be permissible to use tire chains of reasonable proportions upon any vehicle when required for safety because of snow, ice or other conditions tending to cause a vehicle to skid, and (3) it shall be permissible to use studded tires during the period from November first of each year until April fifteenth of the following year: Provided, That in the interest of highway maintenance, no vehicle moved on a highway, other than school buses, shall be equipped with studded tires which are operational with a recommended air pressure greater than forty pounds per square inch.
(d) No studded tires or
chains shall be sold or used within the State of West Virginia which do not
meet the specifications established by the rules and regulations which the
commissioner of highways shall promulgate, but the commissioner may not by
those rules and regulations prohibit the use of studded tires or chains within
the state
(e) (d) The commissioner of highways and local
authorities in their respective jurisdictions may in their discretion issue
special permits authorizing the operation upon the highway of traction engines
or tractors having movable tracks with transverse corrugations upon the
periphery of such movable tracks or farm tractors or other farm machinery, the
operation of which upon a highway would otherwise be prohibited under this
chapter.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove the requirement that the Commissioner of the Division of Highways set standards and regulate studded tires. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Uniform Tire Quality Grade Standards (UTQG) regulates the safety of motor vehicles and related equipment. NHTSA’s regulations are authorized by 49 U.S.C. §30123.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
