GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2015

H                                                                                                                                                    1

HOUSE BILL 136

Short Title:        Speed Limit/Highway Work Zone.		(Public)
Sponsors:	Representative Stevens (Primary Sponsor). For a complete list of Sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly Web Site.
Referred to:	Transportation, if favorable, Judiciary III.

March 4, 2015

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to provide that the additional penalty imposed for speeding in a highway work zone applies only if workers are present and work is actively in progress.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 20‑141(j2) reads as rewritten:

"(j2)     A person who drives a motor vehicle in a highway work zone at a speed greater than the speed limit set and posted under this section shall be required to pay a penalty of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00). This penalty shall be imposed in addition to those penalties established in this Chapter. A "highway work zone" is the area between the first sign that informs motorists of the existence of a work zone on a highway and the last sign that informs motorists of the end of the work zone. The additional penalty imposed by this subsection applies only if (i) signs are posted at the beginning and end of any segment of the highway work zone stating the penalty for speeding in that segment of the work zone.zone and (ii) workers are present and work is actively in progress at the time of the violation. The Secretary shall ensure that work zones shall only be posted with penalty signs if the Secretary determines, after engineering review, that the posting is necessary to ensure the safety of the traveling public due to a hazardous condition.

A law enforcement officer issuing a citation for a violation of this section while in a highway work zone shall indicate the vehicle speed and speed limit posted in the segment of the work zone, and determine whether the individual committed a violation of G.S. 20‑141(j1). Upon an individual's conviction of a violation of this section while in a highway work zone, the clerk of court shall report that the vehicle was in a work zone at the time of the violation, the vehicle speed, and the speed limit of the work zone to the Division of Motor Vehicles."

SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2015, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date. Prosecutions for offenses committed before the effective date of this act are not abated or affected by this act, and the statutes that would be applicable but for this act remain applicable to those prosecutions.