A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to require the division of motor VEHICLES to issue dual registration plates for vehicles and for registered owners to display both registration plates on the vehicle, one in the rear and one on the front.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 20‑63(a) reads as rewritten:
"§ 20‑63.  Registration plates furnished by Division; requirements; replacement of regular plates with First in Flight plates; surrender and reissuance; displaying; preservation and cleaning; alteration or concealment of numbers; commission contracts for issuance.
(a)	The Division upon registering a vehicle shall issue to the owner one registration plate for a motorcycle, trailer or semitrailer, or truck‑tractor and two registration plates for every other motor vehicle. Registration plates issued by the Division under this Article shall be and remain the property of the State, and it shall be lawful for the Commissioner or his duly authorized agents to summarily take possession of any plate or plates which he has reason to believe is being illegally used, and to keep in his possession such plate or plates pending investigation and legal disposition of the same. Whenever the Commissioner finds that any registration plate issued for any vehicle pursuant to the provisions of this Article has become illegible or is in such a condition that the numbers thereon may not be readily distinguished, he may require that such registration plate, and its companion when there are two registration plates, be surrendered to the Division. When said registration plate or plates are so surrendered to the Division, a new registration plate or plates shall be issued in lieu thereof without charge. The owner of any vehicle who receives notice to surrender illegible plate or plates on which the numbers are not readily distinguishable and who willfully refuses to surrender said plates to the Division shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.
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SECTION 2.  20‑63(d) reads as rewritten:
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(d)	Registration plates issued for a motor vehicle other than a motorcycle, trailer, semitrailer, or truck‑tractor shall be attached thereto, one in the front and the other in the rear with expiration or renewal stickers displayed on the plate placed on the rear of the motor vehicle. When only one registration plate is issued for a motor vehicle other than a truck‑tractor, said registration plate shall be attached to the rear of the motor vehicle. The registration plate issued for a truck‑tractor shall be attached to the front thereof. Provided further, that when only one registration plate is issued for a motor vehicle and this motor vehicle is transporting a substance that may adhere to the plate so as to cover or discolor the plate or if the motor vehicle has a mechanical loading device that may damage the plate, the registration plate may be attached to the front of the motor vehicle.
Any motor vehicle of the age of 35 years or more from the date of manufacture may bear the license plates of the year of manufacture instead of the current registration plates, if the current registration plates are maintained within the vehicle and produced upon the request of any person.
The Division shall provide registered owners of motorcycles and motorcycle trailers with suitably reduced size registration plates.
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SECTION 3.  G.S. 20‑66(c) reads as rewritten:
"§ 20‑66.  Renewal of vehicle registration.
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(c)	Renewal Stickers. – A registration renewal sticker issued by the Division must be displayed on the registration plate that it renews in the place prescribed by the Commissioner and must indicate the period for which it and the registration plate on which it is displayed are valid. If a motor vehicle is issued only one registration plate the sticker shall be placed on the plate the sticker renews. If a motor vehicle is issued two registration plates the sticker shall be placed on the registration plate attached to the rear of the motor vehicle. Except where physical differences between a registration renewal sticker and a registration plate render a provision of this Chapter inapplicable, the provisions of this Chapter relating to registration plates apply to registration renewal stickers.
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SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective January 1, 2008.