A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to require persons convicted of impaired driving to have a special license plate of a different color.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 20‑19 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(l)	Special Registration Plate Restriction. – When the Division restores a person's drivers license which was revoked pursuant to G.S. 20‑23 when the offense involved impaired driving, G.S. 20‑23.2, subdivision (2) of G.S. 20‑17(a), subdivision (1) or (9) of G.S. 20‑17(a) when the offense involved impaired driving, or G.S. 20‑138.5, in addition to any other restriction or condition, it shall require the person to agree to and shall indicate on the person's drivers license a restriction that the person may operate only a vehicle that displays a special registration plate as described in G.S. 20‑82.1.
A person subject to this subsection shall obtain a special registration plate for all registered vehicles owned by that person, unless the Division determines that one or more specific registered vehicles owned by that person are relied upon by another member of that person's family for transportation and that vehicle is not in the possession of the person subject to this subsection.
A person subject to this subsection may operate a vehicle that is owned by the person's employer and that does not display a special registration plate only if (i) the person is required to operate that vehicle in the course and scope of the person's employment, (ii) the employer has been notified that the person is subject to a license restriction requiring the person to drive only vehicles displaying a special registration plate, and (iii) the person has proof of the employer's notification in the person's possession while operating the employer's vehicle for normal business duties.
The restrictions placed on a license under this subsection shall be in effect seven years from the date of restoration if the person's license was permanently revoked or three years in all other cases.
A violation of a restriction imposed under this subsection shall result in a one‑year revocation. If the period of revocation was imposed pursuant to subsection (d) or (e) of this section, or G.S. 20‑138.5(d), any remaining period of the original revocation, prior to its reduction, shall be reinstated and the one‑year revocation begins after all other periods of revocation have terminated."
SECTION 2.  Part 5 of Article 3 of Chapter 20 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 20‑82.1.  Special registration plate for impaired driving offenders.
Notwithstanding G.S. 20‑63(a), the Division shall issue to any person subject to the restriction set forth in G.S. 20‑19(l) a special registration plate that is a different color from those regularly issued and that may be readily identified by law enforcement officers. The Commissioner shall designate the color to be used on the special registration plate, which shall remain the same from year to year and shall not be displayed on any other motor vehicles.
No person operating a motor vehicle displaying a special registration plate described in this section shall knowingly disguise or obscure the color of the special registration plate.
Special registration plates issued pursuant to this section are subject to the regular motor vehicle registration fee in G.S. 20‑87 or G.S. 20‑88 plus an additional fee in the amount of ten dollars ($10.00) which shall be credited by the Division to the Special Registration Plate Account (SRPA)."
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2013, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.