A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to direct the Department of Transportation to conduct a study of increasing the speed limit on up to four controlled access highways to seventy‑five miles per hour, develop a pilot program PROPOSAL, and report to the Joint LEGISLATIVE TRANSPORTATION Oversight Committee by JANUARY 31, 2014.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  DOT 75 MPH speed limit study and pilot program proposal. – The Department of Transportation shall study and evaluate pilot implementation of a maximum speed limit of 75 miles per hour on up to four controlled access highways within the State.
SECTION 2.  Required areas of study. – As a part of its study and evaluation of the 75 mile per hour speed limit, and the development of a pilot implementation proposal, the Department shall include the following:
(1)	Any segment selected by the Department for study shall have an existing crash rate below the statewide average and have an existing speed limit of 70 miles per hour. 
(2)	The Department shall conduct an engineering and traffic study on each segment to determine whether a speed limit of 75 miles per hour is reasonable and safe for the conditions found to exist on the segments. 
(3)	The Department shall evaluate the effect of a higher speed limit on highway safety, whether the segments studied meet engineering standards necessary for a higher speed limit, the effect of different speed limits during day and nighttime, the experience with higher speed limits in other states, the need for additional driver safety education, including instruction on driving on the right lane on multilane facilities, and the need for changes to State law concerning use of the left lane for passing on multilane facilities.
(4)	The Department shall evaluate the effect of a 75 miles per hour speed limit on motor vehicle insurance rates.
(5)	The Department shall analyze the effect of a 75 miles per hour speed limit on the current State penalty structure for speeding and possible revisions to that structure.
SECTION 3.  Report to Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee. – On or before January 31, 2014, the Department shall report to the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee its findings and recommendations. The report shall include a proposal for a pilot program for a 75 miles per hour speed limit on up to four identified segments of controlled access highways in the State.
SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law.