House 4538

WEST virginia legislature

2026 regular session

Committee Substitute

for

House Bill 4538

By Delegates Howell and Sheedy

[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary; Reported on February 26, 2026]

A BILL to amend and reenact §17C-3-4a and §17C-3-4b of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; all relating to increasing fines and criminal penalties for speeding and traffic control violations in construction work zones.  

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 3.  TRAFFIC SIGNS, SIGNALS AND MARKINGS.

§17C-3-4a. Obedience to traffic-control instructions at site of street or highway construction or maintenance; penalty.

(a) The driver of any vehicle shall obey the traffic-control instructions of any law-enforcement officer or persons authorized by the commissioner of highways or by proper local authorities to operate traffic-control devices, act as flagmen or operate authorized vehicles engaged in work at or near the site of street or highway construction maintenance work, for the purpose of regulating, warning or guiding traffic, subject to the exceptions granted the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle in this chapter.

(b) Any person failing to comply with the requirements of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $250 $100; upon a second conviction within one year thereafter, shall be fined not more than $500 $200; and upon a third or subsequent conviction, shall be fined not more than $1,000 $500.

§17C-3-4b. Traffic violations in construction zones; posting requirement; criminal penalty.

(a) Where street or highway construction work is being conducted, signs and other traffic control devices, as adopted in §17C-3-1 of this code, shall be posted giving the location of the work and notifying all motorists as to the speed limit and any other traffic restrictions.

(b) Any person who exceeds any posted speed restriction or traffic restriction at a construction site referred to in subsection (a) of this section by less than fifteen miles per hour is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $500 $200.

(c) Any person who exceeds any posted speed restriction or traffic restriction at a construction site referred to in subsection (a) of this section by fifteen miles per hour or more is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $1,000 $200 or confined in a regional jail not more than thirty twenty days, or both.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to preclude prosecution of any operator of a motor vehicle who commits a violation of any other provision of this code for such violation.

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