NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1963 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 968

HOUSE BILL 884

 

 

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE SUSPENSION OF OPERATOR'S LICENSES FOR MOTOR VEHICLE MOVING OFFENSES BY PERSONS BETWEEN THE AGES OF SIXTEEN (16) AND EIGHTEEN(18) YEARS.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

 

Section 1.  Chapter 20 of the General Statutes is hereby amended by adding a new Section to be designated as G.S. 20-13 and to read as follows:

"G.S. 20-13.  Mandatory Revocation of License of Provisional Licensee. (a)The operator's license of any person shall be suspended by the Department without preliminary hearing upon notice to the Department of such person's conviction of a motor vehicle moving violation, as specified in subsection (b), committed while such person was still a provisional licensee. A provisional licensee is any licensee who has not attained his eighteenth birthday. A motor vehicle moving violation, as used herein, does not include overloads, over length, over width, over height, illegal parking, carrying concealed weapon, improper plates, improper registration, improper muffler, public drunk within a vehicle, possession of liquor, improper display of license plates or dealer tags, or unlawful display of emblems and insignia.

(b)        The basis for Departmental action, and the period of suspension, shall be as follows:

(1)        For conviction of a second motor vehicle moving violation, in any twelve-month period, thirty (30) days;

(2)        For conviction of a third such violation, in any twelve-month period, three (3) months;

(3)        For conviction of a fourth such violation, in any twelve-month period, one (1) year;

(4)        For conviction of one such violation in connection with a motor vehicle accident resulting in personal injury or property damage of one hundred dollars ($100.00) or more, sixty (60) days.

(c)        In the event of conviction of two or more motor vehicle moving offenses committed on a single occasion, a licensee shall be charged, for purposes of this Section, with only one moving offense.

(d)        The suspension provided for in this Section shall be in addition to any other remedies which the Department may have against a licensee under other provisions of law; however, when the license of any person is subject to suspension under this Section and at the same time is also subject to suspension or revocation under other provisions of law, such suspensions or revocations shall run concurrently.

(e)        For the purpose of this Section the word 'conviction' shall include a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or a determination of guilt by a jury or by a court, and it includes a forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure appearance in court of the defendant, unless the forfeiture has been vacated. The provisions of this Section shall not apply if prayer for judgment is continued upon conviction.

(f)         Upon receipt of notice on conviction of a licensee's first motor vehicle moving offense, committed while such licensee was a provisional licensee, the Department shall mail to the licensee at his last known address a letter of warning, but failure of the licensee to receive such letter of warning shall not prevent the suspension of his license under this Section."

Sec. 2.  G.S. 20-11 is hereby amended by adding a new paragraph to the end thereof to read as follows:

"The Department shall not grant the application of any minor between the ages of sixteen and eighteen years for an operator's license unless such minor presents evidence of having satisfactorily completed one of the following:

(1)        The driver training and safety education courses offered in the high schools as provided in G.S. 20-88.1.

(2)        A driver training course prescribed and established by the Motor Vehicle Department.

(3)        Any other driver training and safety education courses approved by the Governor's Coordinating Committee on Traffic Safety."

Sec. 2A.  Upon a showing by the applicant that neither of the three courses is readily available, at no cost, to said applicant, the requirement of taking such a course as a condition precedent to securing an application for a driver's license shall be waived.

Sec. 3.  In addition to driver training and safety education courses that may be offered in high schools the Motor Vehicles Department shall establish and maintain in each county at least one driver training and safety education course, the completion of which will entitle a person between the ages of sixteen and eighteen years to take examination for driver's license.

Sec. 4.  All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 5.  This Act shall be in full force and effect on and after November 1, 1963.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 18th day of June, 1963.