GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2003

SESSION LAW 2004-145

SENATE BILL 1043

AN ACT to adjust the weight limits for trucks TRANSPORTING CERTAIN MATERIALS AND TO PROVIDE THAT A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER CANNOT ISSUE A CITATION TO A PERSON FOR FAILING TO have IN HIS POSSESSION A SPECIAL PERMIT FOR VEHICLES OF EXCESSIVE SIZE AND WEIGHT IF THE OFFICER DETERMINES THAT THE PERSON HAS BEEN ISSUED A PERMIT AND THE PERSON SUBMITS the PERMIT WITHIN thirty DAYS OF THE VIOLATION.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 20-118(c)(15) reads as rewritten:

"(15)   Subsections (b) and (e) of this section do not apply to a vehicle or vehicle combination that meets all of the conditions below, but all other enforcement provisions of this Article remain applicable:

a.         Is hauling wood residuals, including wood chips, sawdust, mulch, or tree bark. bark, or is transporting bulk soil, bulk rock, sand, sand rock, or asphalt millings from a site that does not have a certified scale for weighing the vehicle.

b.         Does not operate on an interstate highway, a posted light-traffic road, or a posted bridge.

c.         Does not exceed a maximum gross weight 4,000 pounds in excess of what is allowed in subsection (b) of this section.

d.         Does not exceed a single-axle weight of more than 22,000 pounds and a tandem-axle weight of more than 42,000 pounds."

SECTION 2.  G.S. 20-118(e) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:

"(6) The penalty for violating the gross weight or axle-group weight by a dump truck or dump trailer vehicle transporting bulk soil, bulk rock, sand, sand rock, or asphalt millings intrastate from a site that does not have a certified scale for weighing the vehicle is one-half of the amount it otherwise would be under subdivisions (1) and (3) of this subsection."

SECTION 3.  G.S. 20-119 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:

"(g) No law enforcement officer shall issue a citation to a person for a violation of this section if the officer is able to determine by electronic means that the person has a permit valid at the time of the violation but does not have the permit in his or her possession. Any person issued a citation pursuant to this section who does not have the permit in his or her possession at the time of the issuance of the citation shall not be responsible for a violation, and the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety may not impose any fines under this section if the person submits evidence to the Department of the existence of a permit valid at the time of the violation within 30 days of the date of the violation."

SECTION 4.  Section 3 of this act becomes effective January 1, 2005. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 13^th day of July, 2004.

                                                                    s/ Beverly E. Perdue

                                                                         President of the Senate

                                                                    s/ James B. Black

                                                                         Speaker of the House of Representatives

                                                                    s/ Michael F. Easley

                                                                         Governor

Approved 12:38 p.m. this 29^th day of July, 2004