GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1995

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 213

Short Title:  Overdue Truck Penalties & Taxes.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Representatives Bowie; Grady, McAllister, McLaughlin, Preston, and Robinson.

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Referred to:  Transportation, if favorable, Finance.

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February 16, 1995

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT CONCERNING THE COLLECTION OF OVERDUE TRUCK PENALTIES AND ASSESSED TAXES AND THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE VARIOUS PROVISIONS CONCERNING OVERWEIGHT VEHICLES.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 20-88 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"( k)	A person may not drive a vehicle on a highway if the vehicle's gross weight exceeds its declared gross weight.  A vehicle driven in violation of this subsection is subject to the axle-group weight penalties set in G.S. 20-118(e). The penalties apply to the amount by which the vehicle's gross weight exceeds its declared weight."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 20-96 reads as rewritten:
"§ 20-96.  Collection of overdue penalties and taxes.
A law enforcement officer who discovers that a vehicle used for the transportation of property is being operated on the highways and that the owner of the vehicle is more than 30 days delinquent in paying any of the following may detain the vehicle:
(1)	A penalty previously assessed under this Chapter against the owner for a violation attributable to the failure of a vehicle to comply with this Chapter.
(2)	A tax or penalty previously assessed against the owner under Article 36B of Chapter 105 of the General Statutes.
The officer may detain the vehicle until the delinquent penalties and taxes are paid.  When necessary, an officer who detains a vehicle under this section may have the vehicle stored.  The owner of a vehicle that is detained or stored under this section is responsible for the care of any property being hauled by the vehicle and for any storage charges.  The State is not liable for damage to or loss of the property being hauled."
Sec. 3.  G.S. 20-118(e)(3) reads as rewritten:
"(3)	Except as provided in subdivision (4) of this subsection, for a violation of an axle-group weight limit set in subdivision (b)(3) or (b)(4) of this section, the Department of Transportation shall assess a civil penalty against the owner or registrant of the motor vehicle in accordance with the following schedule: for the first 2,000 pounds or any part thereof, two cents (2¢) per pound; for the next 3,000 pounds or any part thereof, four cents (4¢) per pound; for each pound in excess of 5,000 pounds, ten cents (10¢) per pound. These penalties apply separately to each axle-group weight limit violated. The penalty shall be assessed on each pound of weight in excess of the maximum permitted."
Sec. 4.  G.S. 20-118.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 20-118.1.  Officers may weigh vehicles and require overloads to be removed.
A law enforcement officer may stop and weigh a vehicle to determine if the vehicle's weight is in compliance with the vehicle's declared gross weight and the weight limits set in this Part.  The officer may require the driver of the vehicle to drive to a scale located within five miles of where the officer stopped the vehicle.
If the vehicle's weight exceeds the amount allowable, the officer may detain the vehicle until the overload has been removed.  Any property removed from a vehicle because the vehicle was overloaded is the responsibility of the owner or operator of the vehicle.  The State is not liable for damage to or loss of the removed property.
Failure to permit a vehicle to be weighed or to remove an overload is a misdemeanor of the Class set in G.S. 20-176.  An officer must weigh a vehicle with a scale that has been approved by the Department of Agriculture."
Sec. 5.  G.S. 20-183.11 is repealed.
Sec. 6.  This act is effective upon ratification.