GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1989

H	3 

HOUSE BILL 1501
Committee Substitute Favorable 7/21/89
Third Edition Engrossed 7/25/89

Short Title:  Car Bumper Heights.	(Public)
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Sponsors:
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Referred to:  
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May 1, 1989

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO REGULATE THE HEIGHTS OF FRONT BUMPERS OF MOTOR VEHICLES OPERATED ON THE PUBLIC HIGHWAYS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  Chapter 20 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 20-135.5.  Bumper height.
	No four-wheeled motor vehicle shall be operated on the highways of this State without bumpers on the front and rear of the vehicle.  The front bumper must be no higher than 28 inches above the pavement, with the distance measured from the pavement to the bottom edge of the bumper with the tires on the vehicle properly inflated.  This section shall not apply to property hauling vehicles as defined in G.S. 20-4.01(31)."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 20-183.3(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Before an approval certificate may be issued for a motor vehicle, the vehicle must be inspected by a safety equipment inspection station, and if required by Chapter 20 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, must be found to possess in safe operating condition the following articles and equipment:
(1)	Brakes,
(2)	Lights,
(3)	Horn,
(4)	Steering mechanism,
(5)	Windshield wiper,
(6)	Directional signals,
(7)	Tires,
(8)	Rearview mirror or mirrors,
(9)	Bumpers.
No inspection certificate shall be issued by a safety equipment  inspection station for a motor vehicle manufactured after model year 1967 unless the vehicle is equipped with such emission control devices to reduce air pollution as were installed at the time of manufacture which are readily visible, provided the foregoing requirements shall not apply where such devices have been removed for the purpose of converting the motor vehicle to operate on natural or liquified petroleum gas or other modifications have been made in order to reduce air pollution, further provided that such modifications shall have first been approved by the Department of Water and Air Resources [Department of Natural Resources and Community Development].
In addition to the items listed above, safety inspection equipment stations shall inspect the exhaust systems of all vehicles inspected and report the condition of each exhaust system to the owners or to the persons offering the vehicles for inspection.
The inspection requirements herein provided for shall not exceed the standards provided in the current General Statutes for such equipment."
Sec. 3.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Division of Motor Vehicles the sum of $5,000 to provide new inspection forms and instructions for each inspection station in North Carolina to prepare for usage in October, 1990.
Sec. 4.  This act shall become effective October 1, 1990.