NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1969 SESSION

CHAPTER 1283

HOUSE BILL 581

AN ACT TO ALLOW JUDGES TO ISSUE LIMITED DRIVING PERMITS TO PERSONS CONVICTED OF FIRST OFFENSES OF DRIVING WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF INTOXICATING LIQUOR.

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

Section 1.  G.S. 20-179 as the same appears in the 1967 Supplement to the 1965 Replacement Volume 1C of the General Statutes is amended by designating the existing paragraph thereof as "(a)" and by adding a new paragraph at the end thereof to be designated "(b)" to read as follows:

"(b)      Upon a first conviction only, the trial judge may when feasible as a condition of a suspended sentence, allow a limited driving privilege or license to the person convicted for proper purposes reasonably connected with the health, education and welfare of the person convicted and his family. The judge may impose upon such limited driving privilege any restrictions as in his discretion are deemed advisable including, but not limited to, conditions of days, hours, types of vehicles, routes, geographical boundaries and specific purposes for which limited driving privilege is allowed. Any such limited driving privilege allowed and restrictions imposed thereon shall be specifically recorded in a written judgment which shall be as near as practical as that hereinafter set forth and shall be signed by the trial judge and shall be affixed with the seal of the court and shall be made a part of the records of the said court. A copy of said judgment shall be transmitted to the Department of Motor Vehicles along with any operator's or chauffeur's license in the possession of the person convicted and a notice of the conviction. Such permit issued hereunder shall be valid for such length of time as shall be set forth in the judgment of the trial judge. Such permit shall constitute a valid license to operate motor vehicles upon the streets and highways of this or any other state in accordance with the restrictions noted thereon and shall be subject to all provisions of law relating to operator's or chaffeur's license, by their nature, rendered inapplicable.

Sec. 2.  The Judgment issued by the trial judge as herein permitted shall as near as practical be in form and contents as follows:

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA                                                     In the General Court of Justice

COUNTY OF _______________

                                                                                          RESTRICTED DRIVING PRIVILEGES

This cause coming on to be heard and being heard before the Honorable_____________, Judge presiding, and it appearing to the Court that the defendant,________________, has been convicted of the offense of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating beverages, and it further appearing to the Court that the defendant should be issued a restrictive driving license and is entitled to the issuance of a restrictive driving privilege under and by the authority of General Statutes 20-179 Subsection D;

Now, therefore, it is ordered, adjudged and decreed that the defendant be allowed to operate a motor vehicle under the following conditions and under no other circumstances.

Name:_______________________________________________________________________

Race:_______________________________             Sex:_______________________________

Height:______________________________             Weight:____________________________

Color of Hair:_________________________             Color of Eyes:_______________________

Birth Date:___________________________

Drivers License Number:_________________________________________

Signature of Licensee:____________________________________________________________

Conditions of Restriction (Indicate if none)

Type of Vehicle:________________________________________________________________

Geographic Restrictions:__________________________________________________________

Hours of Restriction:_____________________________________________________________

Other Restrictions:______________________________________________________________

This limited license shall be effective from_______________________________ ________________________________________to________________________________subject to further orders as the Court in its discretion may deem necessary and proper.

This the ____________day of ______________, 1969.

________________________

                                                                                                            Judge Presiding

Sec. 3.  Upon conviction of such offense outside the jurisdiction of this state the person so convicted may apply to the resident judge of the Superior Court of the district in which he resides for limited driving privileges hereinbefore defined. Upon such application the judge shall have the authority to issue such limited driving privileges in the same manner as if he were the trial judge.

Sec. 4.  Any violation of the restrictive driving privileges as set forth in the judgment of the trial judge allowing such privileges shall constitute the offense of driving while license have been suspended and revoked as set forth in G.S. 20-28. Whenever a person is charged with operating a motor vehicle in violation of the restrictions, the limited driving privilege shall be suspended pending the final disposition of the charge.

Sec. 5.  This action is supplemental and in addition to existing law and shall not be construed so as to repeal any existing provision contained in the General Statutes of North Carolina.

Sec. 6.  This Act shall become effective upon its ratification, and shall expire at midnight on June 30, 1971; provided, that the expiration of this Act shall not affect the orders or judgments of any court rendered during the effective period of this Act.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 2nd day of July, 1969.