(a) "Commercial driver license" means a license issued in accordance with the requirements of West Virginia Code Article 17E-1 to an individual which authorizes the individual to drive a class of commercial motor vehicle.
(b) "Commercial driver instruction permit" means a permit issued pursuant to West Virginia Code 17E-1-9(d).
(c) "Commercial motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle designed or used to transport passengers or property:
(1) If the vehicle has a gross combination vehicle weight rating of 26,001 pounds or more inclusive of a towed unit(s) with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 10,000 pounds;
(2) If the vehicle has a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 26,001 pounds or more;
(3) If the vehicle is designed to transport sixteen or more passengers, including the driver; or
(4) If the vehicle is of any size transporting hazardous materials as defined in this section.
(d) "Conviction" means an unvacated adjudication of guilt; a determination that a person has violated or failed to comply with the law in a court of original jurisdiction or by an authorized administrative tribunal or proceeding; an unvacated forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure the person's appearance in court; a plea of guilty or nolo contendere accepted by the court or the payment of a fine or court cost, or violation of a condition of release without bail regardless of whether or not the penalty is rebated, suspended, or probated.
(e) "Disqualification" means any of the following three actions:
(1) The suspension, revocation or cancellation of a driver's license by the state or jurisdiction of issuance.
(2) Any withdrawal of a person's privilege to drive a commercial motor vehicle by a state or other jurisdiction as the result of a violation of state or local law relating to motor vehicle traffic control other than parking or vehicle weight except as to violations committed by a special permittee on the coal resource transportation system or vehicle defect violations.
(3) A determination by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that a person is not qualified to operate a commercial motor vehicle under 49 C.F.R. Part §391 (2004).
(f) "Drive" means to drive, operate or be in physical control of a motor vehicle in any place open to the general public for purposes of vehicular traffic.
(g) "Driver" means any person who drives, operates or is in physical control of a commercial motor vehicle, in any place open to the general public for purposes of vehicular traffic, or who is required to hold a commercial driver license.
(h) "Driver license" means a license issued by a state to an individual which authorizes the individual to drive a motor vehicle of a specific class.
(i) "Employee" means any operator of a commercial motor vehicle, including full time, regularly employed drivers; casual, intermittent or occasional drivers; leased drivers and independent, owner-operator contractors (while in the course of operating a commercial motor vehicle) who are either directly employed by or under lease to drive a commercial motor vehicle for an employer.
(j) "Employer" means any person, including the United States, a state or a political subdivision of a state, who owns or leases a commercial motor vehicle, or assigns a person to drive a commercial motor vehicle.
(k) "Farm vehicle" includes a motor vehicle or combination vehicle registered to the farm owner or entity operating the farm and used exclusively in the transportation of agricultural or horticultural products, livestock, poultry and dairy products from the farm or orchard on which they are raised or produced to markets, processing plants, packing houses, canneries, railway shipping points and cold storage plants and in the transportation of agricultural or horticultural supplies and machinery to such farms or orchards to be used thereon.
(l) "Farmer" includes owner, tenant, lessee, occupant or person in control of the premises used substantially for agricultural or horticultural pursuits, who is at least eighteen years of age with two years licensed driving experience.
(m) "Farmer vehicle driver" means the person employed and designated by the farmer to drive a farm vehicle as long as driving is not his sole or principal function on the farm, who is at least eighteen years of age with two years licensed driving experience.
(n) "Motor vehicle" means every vehicle which is self-propelled, and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires but not operated upon rails.
(o) "Out-of-service order" means a temporary prohibition against driving a commercial motor vehicle as a result of a determination by a law-enforcement officer, an authorized enforcement officer of a federal, state, Canadian, Mexican, county or local jurisdiction including any special agent of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration pursuant to 49 C.F.R. §§386.72, 392.5, 395.13, 396.9 or compatible laws or the North American uniform out-of-service criteria that an imminent hazard exists.
(p) "Violation of an out-of-service order" means:
(1) The operation of a commercial motor vehicle during the period the driver was placed out of service; or
(2) The operation of a commercial motor vehicle by a driver after the vehicle was placed out of service and before the required repairs are made.
(3) The operation of any commercial vehicle by a motor carrier operation after the carrier has been placed out of service.
(q) "Texting" means manually entering alphanumeric text into or reading text from an electronic device.
(1) This action includes, but is not limited to, short messaging service, e- mailing, instant messaging and a command or request to access a World Wide Web page or engaging in any other form of electronic text retrieval or entry for present or future communication.
(2) Texting does not include:
A. Reading, selecting or entering a telephone number, an extension number or voicemail retrieval codes and commands into an electronic device for the purpose of initiating or receiving a phone call or using voice commands to initiate or receive a telephone call;
B. Inputting, selecting or reading information on a global positioning system or navigation system; or
C. Using a device capable of performing multiple functions including, but not limited to, fleet management systems, dispatching devices, smart phones, citizen band radios or music players for a purpose that is not otherwise prohibited by this section.
(WVaC 17E-1-4)
(WVaC 17E-1-4)