RALEIGH–Work continues in North Carolina to improve our motor vehicle laws and make our roads safer. The following is an update about some of the changes made in the General Assembly during this past session.
Safety
The Department of Transportation is required to accept and use any money provided by a municipal government for a pedestrian safety improvement project on a state road within the municipality’s limits. The law (SL2010-37) says the municipality must fund the full cost of the project and the department retains the right to approve the design and oversee the project.
Rep. Phil Haire, 119th N.C. Assembly
Rep. Phil Haire, of Sylva, represents parts of Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain in the North Carolina General Assembly. In 2010 he was elected to his seventh term. This column is a regular release of Rep. Haire’s office in Raleigh.
Contact Rep. Haire
NC House of Representatives
300 N. Salisbury St., Rm. 639
Raleigh, NC 27603-5925
919-715-3005
Phillip.Haire@ncleg.net
The state’s vehicle inspection law has been changed to provide that a new or used vehicle that has received a passing inspection within the previous 12 months would not be subject to an additional inspection when its current registration expires. The new law (SL2010-97) also allows the temporary registration of an unregistered vehicle for up to 10 days to allow for the vehicle to be driven pending inspection. It also allows for the issuance of a 10-day trip permit for a vehicle whose inspection authorization or registration has expired. Prior law provided for a 3-day trip permit for a vehicle whose inspection authorization or registration had expired, and a 10-day temporary permit for vehicles that failed the emissions inspection.
The driver’s license restoration fee has been increased to $100 for licenses revoked for impaired driving. The additional $25 from each fee will be transferred to the Forensic Tests for Alcohol Branch of the Chronic Disease and Injury Section of the Department of Health and Human Services. (SL2010-130)
Motor Vehicles
A law (SL2010-39) signed by the governor earlier this year will make it easier for veterans of Operation Desert Storm and the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to get specialty license plates noting their service.
The age cap for persons eligible to be issued an eight-year drivers license has been increased from 54 to 65 years of age. Previously, a drivers license issued to people between the ages of 18 and 54 expired in eight years. A drivers license issued to people 54 and older expired in five. Under the new law, drivers up to the age of 65 will receive eight-year licenses, while licenses for those over the age of 65 will continue to be valid for five years only. SL 2010-131
A new law (SL2010-132) makes a number of changes to the state’s license plate laws. Two of the more notable changes include:
License plate covers. – Any operator of a motor vehicle who covers any registration number, registration letter, or the state name on a registration plate, number on a year sticker, or number on a month sticker with any frame or transparent clear or color-tinted cover that makes the information illegible is guilty of an infraction.
Repeal of emergency use of registration plates. – The act repeals a statute that authorizes the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles to allow emergency use of a registration plate on another vehicle when the vehicle for which it was originally issued is being repaired.
The law also makes a number of changes in laws governing dealer plates, transporter plates and free special plates. It also authorizes some Department of Transportation to use red lights in case of emergency and requires vehicles to move over a lane when passing emergency vehicles working to restore electric service.
