A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to expand the prohibition on operating a motor vehicle in the leftmost travel lane of a controlled‑access or partially controlled‑access highway at less than the speed limit or when impeding the steady flow of traffic and to increase the monetary penalty for committing a violation of that prohibition.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 20‑146 reads as rewritten:
"§ 20‑146.  Drive on right side of highway; exceptions.
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(b)	Upon all controlled‑access and partially controlled‑access highways, any vehicle impeding the steady flow of traffic shall be driven in a lane other than the inside lane next to the centerline or median of a multilane highway then available for thru traffic, except when overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction or when making a left turn. A person who violates this subsection is guilty of an infraction punishable by a fine of two hundred dollars ($200.00). For purposes of this subsection, a person is "impeding the steady flow of traffic" if the person knows or reasonably should know that he or she is being overtaken from the rear by a vehicle traveling at a higher rate of speed.
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SECTION 2.  Notwithstanding G.S. 143C‑5‑2, there is appropriated from the Highway Fund to the Division of Motor Vehicles of the Department of Transportation the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2017‑2018 fiscal year to be used to provide education to the public on compliance with G.S. 20‑146, as amended by Section 1 of this act.
SECTION 3.  G.S. 20‑146(b), as amended by Section 1 of this act, shall be enforced by warning ticket only until November 30, 2018.
SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2017, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.