GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
                          SESSION 2003
                              
                               
                      SESSION LAW 2003-310
                         HOUSE BILL 1140
                              
                               
AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE QUICK REMOVAL OF VEHICLES, CARGO, OR
  OTHER PERSONAL PROPERTY FROM CONTROLLED-ACCESS HIGHWAYS AND
  TO ALLOW DRIVERS TO REMOVE VEHICLES FROM TRAVEL LANES OF A
  HIGHWAY FOLLOWING MINOR ACCIDENTS, IF THE VEHICLES CAN BE
  SAFELY MOVED.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
       
       SECTION 1.  G.S. 20-161 reads as rewritten:
"§ 20-161.  Stopping on highway prohibited; warning signals;
       removal of vehicles from public highway.
  (a)No person shall park or leave standing any vehicle,
whether attended or unattended, upon the paved or main-traveled
portion of any highway or highway bridge outside municipal
corporate limits unless the vehicle is disabled to such an
extent that it is impossible to avoid stopping and temporarily
leaving the vehicle upon the paved or main traveled portion of
the highway or highway bridge.
  (b) No person shall park or leave standing any vehicle upon
the shoulder of a public highway outside municipal corporate
limits unless the vehicle can be clearly seen by approaching
drivers from a distance of 200 feet in both directions and does
not obstruct the normal movement of traffic.
  (c) The operator of any truck, truck tractor, trailer or
semitrailer which is disabled upon any portion of the highway
shall display warning devices of a type and in a manner as
required under the rules and regulations of the United States
Department of Transportation as adopted by the Division of Motor
Vehicles. Such warning devices shall be displayed as long as the
vehicle is disabled.
  (d) The owner of any vehicle parked or left standing in
violation of law shall be deemed to have appointed any
investigating law-enforcement officer his agent:
       (1)  For the purpose of removing the vehicle to the
            shoulder of the highway or to some other suitable
            place; and
       (2)  For the purpose of arranging for the transportation
            and safe storage of any vehicle which is
            interfering with the regular  flow of traffic or
            which otherwise constitutes a hazard, in which case
            the officer shall be deemed a legal possessor of
            the vehicle within the meaning of G.S. 44A-2(d).
  (e) When any vehicle is parked or left standing upon the
right-of-way of a public highway for a period of 48 hours or
more, the owner shall be deemed to have appointed any
investigating law-enforcement officer his agent for the purpose
of arranging for the transportation and safe storage of such
vehicle and such investigating law-enforcement officer shall be
deemed a legal possessor of the motor vehicle within the meaning
of that term as it appears in G.S. 44A-2(d).
  (f)  Any investigating law enforcement officer,
with the concurrence of the Department of Transportation, may
immediately remove or cause to be removed from a
controlled-access highway any wrecked, abandoned, disabled,
unattended, burned, or partially dismantled vehicle, cargo, or
other personal property interfering with the regular flow of
traffic or which otherwise constitutes a hazard. In the event of
a motor vehicle crash involving serious personal injury or
death, no removal shall occur until the investigating law
enforcement officer determines that adequate information has
been obtained for preparation of a crash report. No state or
local law enforcement officer, Department of Transportation
employee, or person or firm contracting or assisting in the
removal or disposition of any such vehicle, cargo, or other
personal property shall be held criminally or civilly liable for
any damage or economic injury related to carrying out or
enforcing the provisions of this section.
  (g)  The owner shall be liable for any costs
incurred in the removal, storage, and subsequent disposition of
a vehicle, cargo, or other personal property under the
authority of this section."
       SECTION 2.  G.S. 20-166 is amended by adding a
new subsection to read:
  "(c2)If an accident or collision occurs on a main
lane, ramp, shoulder, median, or adjacent area of a highway,
each vehicle shall be moved as soon as possible out of the
travel lane and onto the shoulder or to a designated accident
investigation site to complete the requirements of this section
and minimize interference with traffic if all of the following
apply:
       (1)  The accident or collision has not
            resulted in injury or death to any person or the
            drivers did not know or have reason to know of any
            injury or death.
       (2)  Each vehicle can be normally and
            safely driven. For purposes of this subsection, a
            vehicle can be normally and safely driven if it
            does not require towing and can be operated under
            its own power and in its usual manner, without
            additional damage or hazard to the vehicle, other
            traffic, or the roadway."
       SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective October 1,
2003.
       In the General Assembly read three times and ratified
this the 30th day of June, 2003.


                            s/      Beverly E. Perdue
                               President of the Senate


                            s/      Richard T. Morgan
                               Speaker of the House of
Representatives


                            s/      Michael F. Easley
                               Governor


Approved 11:25 a.m. this 10th day of July, 2003

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