BigBro Spy and Trafficams Who Did What When #5 – West Virginia

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With the blatantly ballooning Big Brotheria wildly manifesting as AUTOMATED TICKETING SYSTEMS, RED-LIGHT CAMERAS, STOP-SIGN CAMERAS, SCHOOL BUS CAMERAS, UNMANNED RADAR, and all that ilk, it’s worth noting that these evils were historically not allowed but also not disallowed. So: Traffic Cameras, Flock, etc are technocratic cancers grown in legal grey areas. Since all evil is done by a few bad actors allowed by the collective ignorance and inaction of most good men, let’s examine who did what and when.

BigBro Spy and Trafficams Who Did What When

West Virginia summary:

West Virginia automated enforcement

Red-light cameras

  • No enabling statute found.
  • WV instead broadly prohibits traffic-law photo enforcement:
    • W. Va. Code § 17C-6-7a
    • Bars use of a “traffic law photo-monitoring device” to detect/prove motor-vehicle violations.
  • Enacting ban: 2006 HB 4004 / Ch. 162, Acts 2006
    • Lead sponsor: Del. Swartzmiller
    • Introduced: Jan. 11, 2006
    • Passed: Mar. 11, 2006
    • Approved: Mar. 31, 2006
    • Governor: Joe Manchin
    • Effective: June 9, 2006

Speed cameras / unmanned radar

  • No automated speed-camera authority found.
  • W. Va. Code § 17C-6-7 allows radar/laser speed evidence only when obtained by certified law-enforcement officers.
  • § 17C-6-7a(d) expressly preserves ordinary radar/laser evidence but not photo-monitoring enforcement.
  • Laser/radar modernization:
    • 2007 HB 2051 / Ch. 181, Acts 2007
    • Lead sponsor: Del. Webster
    • Approved: Mar. 22, 2007
    • Governor: Joe Manchin
    • Effective: June 8, 2007

School-bus cameras

  • Current statute: W. Va. Code § 17C-12-7
  • Not a civil automated-ticketing program like PA/DE; violation remains criminal/misdemeanor, but cameras may support enforcement.
  • Camera requirement: county boards must install forward-facing and rear-facing cameras on school buses purchased on/after July 1, 2019.
  • Enacting act: 2019 SB 238 / Ch. 259, Acts 2019 — Haven McCarthy Memorial Act
    • Lead sponsor: Sen. Baldwin
    • Introduced: Jan. 10, 2019
    • Passed: Mar. 7, 2019
    • Approved: Mar. 25, 2019
    • Governor: Jim Justice
    • Effective: June 5, 2019
  • Important predecessor:
    • 2016 SB 13 / Ch. 243, Acts 2016
    • Lead sponsor: Sen. Carmichael
    • Created/expanded owner-or-lessee inference when operator identity is unknown.
    • Approved: Mar. 24, 2016
    • Governor: Earl Ray Tomblin
    • Effective: June 10, 2016

Stop-sign cameras

  • No automated stop-sign camera authority found.
  • Covered by the general § 17C-6-7a photo-monitoring prohibition.

Bottom line

WV is mostly an anti-camera state for automated traffic enforcement. The only camera-related traffic enforcement found is school-bus-mounted cameras, but WV has not created
a broad civil automated ticketing system for red lights, speed, or stop signs.

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