Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
      2024 REGULAR SESSION
                   Enrolled Senate Bill 378
  By Senators Takubo, Grady, Woelfel, and Hamilton [Passed March 7, 2024; in effect 90 days from passage]
     Enr SB 378                                  2024R1760
1    AN ACT to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section,
2            designated §16-9A-11, relating to prohibiting smoking of tobacco products in a motor
3            vehicle while an individual 16 years of age or younger is present; defining terms; making
4            the violation a secondary misdemeanor offense; and providing a penalty.
     Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
     ARTICLE               9A.              TOBACCO               USAGE               RESTRICTIONS.
     §16-9A-11. Smoking prohibited in motor vehicle while a person 16 years of age or less is
             present; penalty.
1            (a) As used in this section:
2            (1) "Lit tobacco product" means any lighted pipe, cigarette, cigar, or other lighted device or
3    product containing a tobacco-based product manufactured or made for the purpose of smoking.
4            (2) "Motor vehicle" means a Class A, Class B, Class H, or Class J vehicle as those terms
5    are defined in §17A-10-1 of this code.
6            (b) No person who is 18 years of age or older may smoke or possess a lit tobacco product
7    in a motor vehicle if an individual 16 years of age or less is in the motor vehicle.
8            (c) Any person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction,
9    shall be fined not more than $25. No court costs or other fees may be assessed for a violation of
10   this section.
11           (d) Enforcement of this section may only be accomplished as a secondary action when a
12   driver of a vehicle, as defined in this section, has been detained for probable cause of violating
13   another section of this code.
14           (e) Each time a driver of a vehicle is detained for probable cause of violating another
15   provision of this code and is cited for the offense created pursuant to this section, it shall be
16   considered a single offense regardless of the number of individuals 16 years of age or less in the
17   motor vehicle.
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Statutes affected: 
Introduced Version: 16-9A-11
Enrolled Version: 16-9A-11