GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1995 SESSION

CHAPTER 573
SENATE BILL 1181

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ALLOW UTILITY POLES CARRIED ON SIDE-LOADERS TO EXTEND MORE THAN THREE FEET BEYOND THE FRONT BUMPER OF THE VEHICLE.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 20-116(f) reads as rewritten:
"(f)	The load upon any vehicle operated alone, or the load upon the front vehicle of a combination of vehicles, shall not extend more than three feet beyond the foremost part of the vehicle.  Under this subsection 'load' shall include the boom on a self-propelled vehicle.
A utility pole carried by a self-propelled pole carrier may extend beyond the front overhang limit set in this subsection if the pole cannot be dismembered, the pole is less than 80 feet in length and does not extend more than 10 feet beyond the front bumper of the vehicle, and either of the following circumstances apply:
(1)	It is daytime and the front of the extending load of poles is marked by a flag of the type required by G.S. 20-117 for certain rear overhangs.
(2)	It is nighttime, operation of the vehicle is required to make emergency repairs to utility service, and the front of the extending load of poles is marked by a light of the type required by G.S. 20-117 for certain rear overhangs.
As used in this subsection, a 'self-propelled pole carrier' is a vehicle designed to carry a pole on the side of the vehicle at a height of at least five feet when measured from the bottom of the brace used to carry the pole.  A self-propelled pole carrier may not tow another vehicle when carrying a pole that extends beyond the front overhang limit set in this subsection."
Sec. 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1996.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 19th day of June, 1996.

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Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate

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Harold J. Brubaker
Speaker of the House of Representatives