Bill Summaries: all (2019-2020 Session)

Tracking:
  • Summary date: Sep 30 2019 - View summary

    AN ACT TO MAKE VARIOUS CHANGES TO MOTOR VEHICLE LAWS OF THE STATE. SL 2019-227. Enacted September 27, 2019. Effective September 27, 2019, except as otherwise provided.


  • Summary date: Sep 10 2019 - View summary

    Conference report makes the following changes to the 6th edition.

    Further amends GS 20-63.1 to add a new subsection explicitly requiring all registration plates to be replaced every seven years. Pursuant to this new provision, requires the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to replace special registration plates on July 1, 2021, and other registration plates beginning on July 1, 2020.

    Amends GS 20-140.4(a) to except from the safety helmet requirement set forth in subdivision (2) operators and passengers of an autocycle that is equipped with a roll bar or roll cage. Effective October 1, 2019. Provides a savings clause for prosecutions for offenses committed before the effective date.

    Directs the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee to study the feasibility of making digital license plates publicly available as an alternative to traditional physical registration plates. Requires the Committee to report to the 2020 General Assembly.


  • Summary date: Jul 2 2019 - View summary

    Senate amendment makes the following changes to the 5th edition.

    Changes the effective date of the proposed changes to the license plate reflectivity standards in GS 20-63.1 and related provisions from July 1, 2021, to July 1, 2020 (identical to the effective date in the 4th edition). 


  • Summary date: Jun 26 2019 - View summary

    Senate committee substitute to the 4th edition makes the following changes. 

    Deletes the previous changes to the license plate reflectivity standards in GS 20-63.1 and instead amends the statute by adding that the Division of Motor Vehicles must develop standards for reflectivity that use the most current technology available while maintaining a competitive bid process. Changes the effective date of the changes to the statute from July 1, 2020, to July 1, 2021. 

    Deletes the proposed changes to GS 20-140.4, which exempted an operator of or any passengers within an autocycle instead of an autocycle that has completely enclosed seating from the requirement that the operator and all passengers wear safety helmets. 

    Deletes proposed GS 20-24.1(f), which added provisions related to allowing a person whose license is revoked for failure to pay court-ordered fines, penalties, or court costs regarding a motor vehicle offense, and for no other reason, to apply to the court for a limited driving privilege.


  • Summary date: Apr 3 2019 - View summary

    House amendments make the following additions to the 3rd edition.

    Amendment #1 amends GS 20-140.4(a)(2), which requires the operator and all passengers to wear safety helmets in order to operate a motorcycle or moped on a highway or public vehicular area. Now specifies that the requirement does not apply to an operator of or any passengers within an autocycle (previously, exemption more specifically applied to an autocycle that has completely enclosed seating). Effective July 1, 2019. Provides a savings clause for prosecutions for offenses committed before the effective date.

    Amendment #2 enacts GS 20-24.1(f) to provide for a person whose license is revoked for failure to pay court-ordered fines, penalties, or court costs regarding a motor vehicle offense, and for no other reason, to apply to the court for a limited driving privilege. Specifies that the privilege is valid for up to one year or until any fine, penalty, or court costs ordered by the court are paid. Limits eligibility to persons who have not had a limited driving privilege granted under the provision within the three years prior to application. Provides for the court to grant the privilege in the same manner and under the same terms and conditions prescribed in GS 20-16.1 (which provides for limited driving permits for first offenders under the mandatory suspension of driver's licenses upon conviction of excessive speeding provisions). Applies to revocation orders entered on or after October 1, 2019.


  • Summary date: Mar 18 2019 - View summary

    House committee substitute makes the following changes to the 2nd edition.

    Adds the following.

    Amends GS 20-63.1, which authorizes the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to cause vehicle license plates for 1968 and future years to be reflectorized. Rewrites the statute to mandate registration plates be fully retroreflective and conform to the specified values, and be constructed with the specified materials. Adds a new requirement for registration plates to be replaced every seven years. 

    Directs the DMV, in coordination with the Department of Information Technology, to implement a registration plate production platform that integrates the State registration and titling system with the on-demand production of the registration plates, and provides for direct shipping of the registration plate to the vehicle's owner or to the license plate agency. Requires existing plates be replaced with new registration plates if, upon the date of renewal, the plate is seven or more years old or will become seven or more years old during the registration period. 

    Applies to registration plates issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2020. 


  • Summary date: Mar 12 2019 - View summary

    House committee substitute makes the following changes to the 1st edition. 

    Adds a new section amending GS 20-311 regarding actions the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) can take upon notification of an owner's lapse in financial responsibility for the operation of their vehicle. Waives the penalty or restoration fee following a lapse for owners who have become a resident of another state and registered the vehicle in that state within 30 days of the cancellation or expiration of the owner's vehicle liability policy in North Carolina. Requires that the owner have submitted a copy of their current registration card to the DMV and returned the North Carolina registration plate or submitted an affidavit indicating the plate is lost, stolen, or destroyed to qualify for the waiver. 


  • Summary date: Feb 27 2019 - View summary

    Amends GS 20-4.01 by amending the definitions of fuel cell electric vehicles and plug-in electric vehicles by adding that the vehicle does not have the ability to be propelled by a gasoline engine.

    Amends GS 20-57 by removing the requirement that a vehicle registration card have space for the owner's signature.

    Amends GS 20-7 by extending the expiration date of a full provisional drivers license issued to a person under the age of 18 to 60 days following the person's twenty-first birthday. Also amends the statute to allow the Division of Motor Vehicles to offer remote conversion of a full provisional license. Makes conforming changes and sets out requirements to be met when using remote conversion. Adds that when renewing or converting a license remotely, if the license holder does not reside at the address on the license, the holder may comply with the address requirement by providing the address at which the holder resides at the time of the renewal or conversion request.