AN ACT to direct The Department of Transportation to study issues relating to individuals being transported in vehicles while seated in wheelchairs, as recommended by the North carolina Study commission on aging.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  The Department of Transportation shall study issues relating to the vehicular transportation of individuals seated in wheelchairs.  The study shall include reviewing appropriate methods of transporting passengers who remain seated in wheelchairs while in motor vehicles and developing guidelines for the installation and use of wheelchair tie‑down systems.  The Department shall report its findings and any recommendations to the North Carolina Study Commission on Aging and the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee not later than February 1, 2009.
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 8th day of July, 2008.

	s/	 Beverly E. Perdue
	 President of the Senate

	s/	 Joe Hackney
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

	s/	 Michael F. Easley
	 Governor

Approved 5:41 p.m. this 28th day of July, 2008