GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2021

SESSION LAW 2021-128

HOUSE BILL 692

AN ACT prohibiting certain modifications to passenger VEHICLES operating on highways or public vehicular areas.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 20‑135.4 reads as rewritten:

"§ 20‑135.4.  Certain automobile safety standards.

(a)        Definitions. – For the purposes of this section, the term "private passenger automobile" shall mean means a four‑wheeled motor vehicle designed principally for carrying passengers, for use passengers on public roads and highways, except a multipurpose passenger vehicle which is constructed either on a truck chassis or with special features for occasional off‑road operation.highways.

(b),       (c) Repealed by Session Laws 1975, c. 856.

(d)       The manufacturer's specified height of any passenger motor vehicle shall not be elevated or lowered, either in front or back, more than six inches by modification, alteration, or change of the physical structure of said vehicle without prior written approval of the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles. On or after January 1, 1975, no self‑propelled passenger vehicle that has been so altered, modified or changed Prohibited Modifications. – A private passenger automobile shall not be operated upon any highway or public vehicular area without the prior written approval of the Commissioner.if, by alteration of the suspension, frame, or chassis, the height of the front fender is 4 or more inches greater than the height of the rear fender. For the purposes of this subsection, the height of the fender shall be a vertical measurement from and perpendicular to the ground, through the centerline of the wheel, and to the bottom of the fender."

SECTION 2.  G.S. 20‑17 reads as rewritten:

"§ 20‑17.  Mandatory revocation of license by Division.

(a)        The Division shall forthwith revoke the license of any driver upon receiving a record of the driver's conviction for any of the following offenses:

…

(17) A third or subsequent conviction of operating a private passenger automobile with prohibited modifications on any highway or public vehicular area under G.S. 20‑135.4(d). A conviction for violating G.S. 20‑135.4(d) is a third or subsequent conviction if at the time of the current infraction the person has two or more previous convictions under G.S. 20‑135.4 that occurred in the 12 months immediately preceding the date of the current infraction.

…."

SECTION 3.  G.S. 20‑19 reads as rewritten:

"§ 20‑19.  Period of suspension or revocation; conditions of restoration.

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(c2a) When a license is revoked under G.S. 20‑17(a)(17), the period of revocation shall be not less than one year.

…."

SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2021, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 25^th day of August, 2021.

                                                                    s/  Phil Berger

                                                                         President Pro Tempore of the Senate

                                                                    s/  Tim Moore

                                                                         Speaker of the House of Representatives

                                                                    s/  Roy Cooper

                                                                         Governor

Approved 11:50 a.m. this 30^th day of August, 2021