NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1965 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 734

HOUSE BILL 536

 

 

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR ANNUAL SAFETY EQUIPMENT INSPECTION OF MOTOR VEHICLES.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

 

Section 1.  Article 3A of Chapter 20 of the General Statutes is hereby amended by adding thereto a new part to be entitled "Safety Equipment Inspection of Motor Vehicles" and to read as follows:

"Part 2. Safety Equipment Inspection of Motor Vehicles.

G.S. 20-183.2.  Safety Equipment Inspection Required. (a) Every motor vehicle registered, or required to be registered, in North Carolina when operated on the highway must display a current approved certificate at such place on the vehicle as may be designated by the Commissioner, indicating that it has been inspected in accordance with the schedule set out in Subsection (b) hereof and has been found to comply with the standards for safety equipment prescribed by this Chapter. Thereafter, said vehicles shall display a current inspection certificate as required in subsection (c) hereof.

(b)        Vehicles shall be inspected and display approval certificate required in subsection (a) above in accordance with and not later than the dates enumerated herein:

(1)        Vehicles whose last numerical digit on 1966 North Carolina license plate is three (3) shall be inspected and approved on or before March 31, 1966;

2.         Vehicles whose last numerical digit on 1966 North Carolina license plate is four (4) shall be inspected and approved on or before April 30, 1966;

3.         Vehicles whose last numerical digit on 1966 North Carolina license plate is five (5) shall be inspected and approved on or before May 31, 1966;

4.         Vehicles whose last numerical digit on 1966 North Carolina license plate is six (6) shall be inspected and approved on or before June 30, 1966;

5.         Vehicles whose last numerical digit on 1966 North Carolina license plate is seven (7) shall be inspected and approved on or before July 31, 1966;

6.         Vehicles whose last numerical digit on 1966 North Carolina license plate is eight (8) shall be inspected and approved on or before August 31, 1966;

7.         Vehicles whose last numerical digit on 1966 North Carolina license plate is nine (9) shall be inspected and approved on or before September 30, 1966;

8.         Vehicles whose last numerical digit on 1966 North Carolina license plate is zero (0) shall be inspected and approved on or before October 31, 1966;

9.         Vehicles whose last numerical digit on 1966 North Carolina license plate is one (1) shall be inspected and approved on or before November 30, 1966;

10.       Vehicles whose last numerical digit on 1966 North Carolina license plate is two (2) shall be inspected and approved on or before December 31, 1966.

(c)        Every inspection certificate issued under the Act shall be valid for not less than twelve months and shall expire at midnight on the last day of the month designated on said inspection certificate. It shall be unlawful to operate any motor vehicle on the highway until there is displayed thereon a current inspection certificate, as provided by this Act, indicating that the vehicle has been inspected within the previous twelve months and has been found to comply with the standards for safety equipment prescribed by this Chapter.

(d)        1. On and after February 16, 1966 all motor vehicle dealers in North Carolina shall, prior to retail sale of any new or used motor vehicle, have such motor vehicle inspected by an approved inspection station and have affixed thereto an approved inspection certificate as required by this Act.

2.         Except as provided for in paragraph 1 of this subsection, the purchaser of any new or used motor vehicle required to be inspected under this Act, or of a vehicle brought into this State and required to be registered under the provisions of Chapter 20 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, or any motor vehicle registered for the year 1966 and for which a registration plate is issued, for that year, on or after February 16, 1966, may operate such vehicle or allow it to be operated on the highways of the State without inspection for not more than ten days.

(e)        When a motor vehicle required to be inspected under this Act shall, upon inspection, fail to meet the safety requirements of this Act, the Safety Equipment Inspection Station making such inspection, shall issue an authorized receipt and statement for such vehicle indicating that it has been inspected and shall enumerate the defects found. The owner or operator may have such defects corrected at such place as he or she chooses. The vehicle may be re-inspected at the Safety Equipment Inspection Station first making the inspection, without additional charge, or the owner or operator may have same inspected at another Safety Equipment Inspection Station.

G.S. 20-183.3.  Requirements for Approval. Before an approval certificate may be issued for a motor vehicle, the vehicle must be inspected by a Safety Inspection Equipment Station, and if required by Chapter 20 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, must be found to possess in safe operating condition the following articles and equipment:

(a)        brakes

(b)        lights

(c)        horn

(d)        steering mechanism

(e)        windshield wiper

(f)         directional signals.

The inspection requirements herein provided for shall not exceed the standards provided in the current General Statutes for such equipment.

G.S. 20-183.4.  Safety Equipment Inspection Stations. Every person, firm or agency with employees meeting the following qualifications shall, upon application, be issued a license designating the person, firm or agency as a Safety Equipment Inspection Station:

(a)        Be of good character and have a good reputation for honesty.

(b)        Have adequate knowledge of the equipment requirements of the Motor Vehicle Laws of North Carolina.

(c)        Be able to satisfactorily conduct the mechanical inspection required by this Act.

(d)        Have adequate facilities as to space and equipment in order to check each of the items of safety equipment listed herein.

(e)        Have a general knowledge of motor vehicles sufficient to recognize a mechanical condition which is not safe.

Any person, firm or agency meeting the above requirements and desiring to be licensed as a Motor Vehicle Inspection Station may apply to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles on forms provided by the Commissioner. The Commissioner shall cause an investigation to be made as to the applicant's qualifications, and if in the opinion of the Commissioner, the applicant fulfills such qualifications, he shall issue a Certificate of Appointment to such person, firm or agency as a Safety Equipment Inspection Station. Such appointment shall be issued without charge and shall be effective until cancelled by request of the inspection station or until suspended or revoked for cause following a hearing by the Commissioner. Any applicant who is refused a license, or any inspection station whose license has been suspended or revoked, may file a petition in the Superior Court of Wake County or in the Superior Court in his county of residence for a review of the action of the Commissioner. When such a petition is filed in the Superior Court twenty days' notice shall be given to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles. The Court may then hear evidence from the applicant and the Commissioner concerning the qualifications of the applicant, and the Court may make such findings as the evidence shall warrant, and if found qualified shall order that the action of the Commissioner refusing, suspending or revoking the license be rescinded.

The Commissioner may designate the State or any political subdivision thereof or any person, firm or corporation as self inspectors for the sole purpose of inspecting vehicles owned or operated by such agencies, persons, firms, or corporations so designated.

G.S. 20-183.5.  Supervision of Safety Equipment Inspection Stations. When a person, firm or agency is designated as a Safety Equipment Inspection Station the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall record such appointment and shall cause periodic checks to be made to determine that inspections are being conducted in accordance with this Act, and shall cause investigations to be made of bona fide complaints received regarding any such inspection station.

G.S. 20-183.6.  Commissioner of Motor Vehicles Shall Establish Procedures. The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall establish procedures for the control, distribution, sale, refund, and display of certificates and for the accounting for proceeds of their sale, consistent with this Article. It shall be unlawful knowingly to possess, affix, transfer, remove, imitate or reproduce an inspection certificate, except by direction of the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles under the terms of this Article.

G.S. 20-183.7.  Fees to be Charged by Safety Equipment Inspection Station. Every inspection station, except self inspectors as designated herein, shall charge a fee of one dollar and fifty cents ($1.50) for inspecting a motor vehicle to determine compliance with this Article and shall give the operator a receipt indicating the articles and equipment approved and disapproved; provided, that inspection stations approved by the Commissioner, and operated under rules, regulations and supervision of any governmental agency, when inspecting vehicles required to be inspected by such agencies' rules and regulations and by the provisions of this Act, may, upon approval by such inspection station and the payment of a fee of twenty-five cents (25¢), attach to the vehicle inspected a North Carolina inspection certificate as required by this Act. When the receipt is presented to the inspection station which issued it, at any time within ninety days, that inspection station shall re-inspect the motor vehicle free of additional charge until approved. When said vehicle is approved, and upon payment to the inspection station of the fee, the inspection station shall affix a valid inspection certificate to said motor vehicle, and said inspection station shall maintain a record of the motor vehicles inspected which shall be available for eighteen months. The Department of Motor Vehicles shall receive twenty-five cents (25¢) for each inspection certificate and these proceeds shall be placed in a fund designated the 'Motor Vehicle Safety Equipment Inspection Fund,' to be used under the direction and supervision of the Director of the Budget for the administration of this Article.

G.S. 20-183.8.  Commissioner of Motor Vehicles to Issue Regulations Subject to the Approval of Governor; Penalties for Violation. (a) It is the intent of the Article that the provisions herein shall be carried out by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles for the safety and convenience of the motoring public. The Commissioner shall have authority to promulgate only such regulations as are reasonably necessary for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this inspection program, but such regulations shall not be effective until the same have been approved by the Governor.

(b)        Violation of any provision of this Article shall, upon conviction, be punishable by a fine not to exceed fifty dollars ($50.00) or imprisonment not to exceed thirty days, except that the unauthorized reproduction of an inspection certificate shall be punishable as a forgery under G.S. 14-119."

Sec. 2.  Subsections (c) and (d) of G.S. 20-53, as the same appears in the 1963 Cumulative Supplement to Recompiled Volume 1C of the General Statutes, are hereby repealed effective on and after February 16, 1966.

Sec. 3.  All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 4.  This Act shall be in full force and effect from and after its ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 28th day of May, 1965.