North Carolina SB 492: Limited Driving Privilege/Church.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2015
S 1
SENATE BILL 492

Short Title: Limited Driving Privilege/Church. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators D. Davis, Soucek, Daniel (Primary Sponsors); Hise, Sanderson, and
Waddell.
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate.
March 26, 2015
*S492-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE HOLDER OF A LIMITED DRIVING PRIVILEGE TO 2
DRIVE TO AND FROM HIS OR HER PLACE OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
SECTION 1. G.S. 20-179.3 reads as rewritten: 5
"§ 20-179.3. Limited driving privilege. 6
(a) Definition of Limited Driving Privilege. – A limited driving privilege is a judgment 7
issued in the discretion of a court for good cause shown authorizing a person with a revoked 8
driver's license to drive for essential purposes related to any of the following: 9
(1) His The person's employment. 10
(2) The maintenance of his the person's household. 11
(3) His The person's education. 12
(4) His The person's court-ordered treatment or assessment. 13
(5) Community service ordered as a condition of the person's probation. 14
(6) Emergency medical care. 15
(7) Religious worship. 16
(b) Eligibility. – 17
(1) A person convicted of the offense of impaired driving under G.S. 20-138.1 is 18
eligible for a limited driving privilege if: 19
a. At the time of the offense he the person held either a valid driver's 20
license or a license that had been expired for less than one year; 21
b. At the time of the offense he the person had not within the preceding 22
seven years been convicted of an offense involving impaired driving; 23
c. Punishment Level Three, Four, or Five was imposed for the offense 24
of impaired driving; 25
d. Subsequent to the offense he the person has not been convicted of, or 26
had an unresolved charge lodged against him the person for, an 27
offense involving impaired driving; and 28
e. The person has obtained and filed with the court a substance abuse 29
assessment of the type required by G.S. 20-17.6 for the restoration of 30
a drivers license. 31
A person whose North Carolina driver's license is revoked because of a 32
conviction in another jurisdiction substantially similar to impaired driving 33
under G.S. 20-138.1 is eligible for a limited driving privilege if he the person 34
would be eligible for it had the conviction occurred in North Carolina. 35

General Assembly of North Carolina Session 2015
Page 2 S492 [Edition 1]
Eligibility for a limited driving privilege following a revocation under 1
G.S. 20-16.2(d) is governed by G.S. 20-16.2(e1). 2
(2) Any person whose licensing privileges are forfeited pursuant to 3
G.S. 15A-1331.1 is eligible for a limited driving privilege if the court finds 4
that at the time of the forfeiture, the person held either a valid drivers license 5
or a drivers license that had been expired for less than one year and 6
a. The person is supporting existing dependents or must have a drivers 7
license to be gainfully employed; or 8
b. The person has an existing dependent who requires serious medical 9
treatment and the defendant is the only person able to provide 10
transportation to the dependent to the health care facility where the 11
dependent can receive the needed medical treatment. 12
The limited driving privilege granted under this subdivision must restrict the 13
person to essential driving related to the purposes listed above, and any 14
driving that is not related to those purposes is unlawful even though done at 15
times and upon routes that may be authorized by the privilege. 16
... 17
(c1) Privilege Restrictions for High-Risk Drivers. – Notwithstanding any other provision 18
of this section, any limited driving privilege issued to a person convicted of an impaired driving 19
offense with an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more at the time of the offense shall: 20
(1) Not become effective until at least 45 days after the final conviction under 21
G.S. 20-138.1; 22
(2) Require the applicant to comply with the ignition interlock requirements of 23
subsection (g5) of this section; and 24
(3) Restrict the applicant to driving only to and from the applicant's place of 25
employment, the place the applicant is enrolled in school, the applicant's 26
place of religious worship, any court ordered treatment or substance abuse 27
education, and any ignition interlock service facility. 28
For purposes of this subsection, the results of a chemical analysis presented at trial or 29
sentencing shall be sufficient to prove a person's alcohol concentration, shall be conclusive, and 30
shall not be subject to modification by any party, with or without approval by the court. 31
... 32
(e) Limited Basis for and Effect of Privilege. – A limited driving privilege issued under 33
this section authorizes a person to drive if his the person's license is revoked solely under 34
G.S. 20-17(a)(2) or as a result of a conviction in another jurisdiction substantially similar to 35
impaired driving under G.S.