GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1989 SESSION

CHAPTER 790
HOUSE BILL 1062

AN ACT TO AMEND THE LIMITATIONS ON SEMITRAILERS ON CERTAIN NORTH CAROLINA HIGHWAYS.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 20-115.1(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	Motor vehicle combinations consisting of a semitrailer of not more than 53 feet in length and a truck tractor may be operated on the interstate highways (except those exempted by the United States Secretary of Transportation pursuant to 49 USC 2311(i)) and federal-aid primary system highways designated by the United States Secretary of Transportation provided that any semitrailer in excess of 48 feet in length shall not be permitted unless the distance between the kingpin of the trailer and the rearmost axle or a point midway between the two rear axles, if the two rear axles are a tandem axle, does not exceed 41 feet; and provided that any semitrailer in excess of 48 feet is equipped with a rear underride guard of substantial construction consisting of a continuous lateral beam extending to within four inches of the lateral extremities of the semitrailer and located not more than 22 inches from the surface as measured with the vehicle empty and on a level surface."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 20-116(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	The total outside width of any vehicle or the load thereon shall not exceed 96 inches, except as otherwise provided in this section: Provided that when hogsheads of tobacco are being transported, a tolerance of five inches shall be allowed.  Provided, further, that vehicles (other than passenger buses) which do not exceed the overall width of 102 inches and otherwise provided in this section may be operated in accordance with G.S. 20-115.1(c), (f), and (g)."
Sec. 3.  G.S. 20-115.1 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(h)	Any owner of a semitrailer less than 50 feet in length in violation of subsections (a) or (b) is responsible for an infraction and is subject to a penalty of one hundred dollars ($100.00).  Any owner of a semitrailer 50 feet or greater in length in violation of subsection (b) is responsible for an infraction and subject to a penalty of two hundred dollars ($200.00)."
Sec. 3.1.  G.S. 20-115.1 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(i)	Any driver of a vehicle with a semitrailer less than 50 feet in length violating subsections (a) or (b) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of one hundred dollars ($100.00).  Any driver of a vehicle with a semitrailer 50 feet or more in length violating subsection (b) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of two hundred dollars ($200.00)."
Sec. 5.  The Highway Safety Research Center at the University of North Carolina shall conduct a study of the safety implications of this act and shall submit a report by January 1, 1991 for consideration by the General Assembly during the 1991 Session.
Sec. 6.  This act is effective January 1, 1990.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 12th day of August, 1989.