In July, the General Assembly enacted S.L. 2024-43 (H 25), legislation that makes three significant changes to the laws governing driving by person following a conviction for driving while impaired (DWI) and certain related offenses.
First, the act expands the categories of defendants who may receive a limited driving privilege following a DWI conviction. Second, it broadens the categories of defendants who must install an ignition interlock device (IID) as a condition of having their driver’s licenses restored following revocation for DWI-related convictions. Third, it extends revocation periods and IID restriction periods when an IID violation is committed during the last 90 days of the period.
The changes applicable to limited driving privileges are effective for limited driving privileges issued on or after December 1, 2024. The changes applicable to IID restrictions on restored licenses are effective for driver’s licenses that are revoked on or after December 1, 2024.
Background. Conviction of DWI and a host of related offenses result in the automatic revocation of a person’s driver’s license by the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (NC DMV). In certain circumstances, courts are statutorily authorized to issue to a person a limited driving privilege. Such a privilege allows a person whose license is revoked to lawfully drive subject to restrictions required by law or imposed in the court’s discretion. A limited driving privilege may not outlast the duration of the revocation. Once the revocation ends (or could end if the person completed certain requirements, such as completing substance abuse education or treatment and having proof of that submitted to NC DMV), the person must have his or her license reinstated by NC DMV in order to lawfully drive.
A condition that is sometimes required by law for both a limited driving privilege and for a license restored following a conviction of DWI or a related offense is that the person drive only a vehicle equipped with an ignition interlock device (IID) for a specified period of time. An IID is attached to a vehicle and permits the vehicle’s engine to engage only after a person has submitted a breath sample that registers below the programmed alcohol concentration limit. An IID thereafter requires intermittent testing while the vehicle is in operation and an arrival test before the vehicle’s ignition is switched off. Vendors approved by NC DMV install, service, and monitor IIDs and report to NC DMV violations of IID requirements. Violation of an IID restriction imposed as a condition of a restored license results in an additional one-year license revocation.
Expansion of limited driving privilege eligibility. Under current law, only a defendant convicted of DWI who is sentenced at Levels Three, Four, and Five (the lowest three levels of punishment) may be granted a limited driving privilege. G.S. 20-179.3. These limited privileges may endure for no more than one year. (One year is the length of a revocation for a person convicted of DWI who does not (a) have a prior conviction within three years, or (b) two prior convictions in ten years, one of which occurred in the 5 years preceding the instant offense. G.S. 20-17(a)(2); G.S. 20-19(c1)).
S.L. 2024-43 expands limited driving privilege eligibility effective December 1, 2024 to certain defendants sentenced at Level 2. Such a person is eligible for a limited driving privilege if the following conditions are met:
- The person has not been convicted of more than one other offense involving impaired driving within the previous 7 years;
- At the time of the offense, the person held a valid driver’s license or a license that had been expired for less than a year;
- At the time of the offense, the person did not have an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more;
- Punishment Level 3, 4, or 5 was imposed, or Punishment Level 2 was imposed based solely on the grossly aggravating factor of a prior conviction under G.S. 20-179(c)(1);
- Since the offense, the person has not been convicted of an offense involving impaired driving or had an unresolved charge for such an offense; and
- The person has filed with the court a substance abuse assessment of the type required by G.S. 20‑17.6 for the restoration of a driver’s license.
A limited driving privilege issued under this new category of eligibility must require an IID. In some cases, these limited driving privileges may endure for a number of years or, theoretically, even permanently. That is because the revocation period for a person convicted of impaired driving who has been convicted of another offense involved impaired driving that occurred within three years preceding the current offense is 4 years. G.S. 20-19(d). And the revocation period for a person convicted of impaired driving who has two or more previous offenses for which he or she has been convicted, one of which occurred within the five years immediately preceding the date of the current offense, is permanent. G.S. 20-19(e). Persons falling in either category might be subject to sentencing at Level 2 so long as only one of the prior convictions occurred in the previous seven years.
S.L. 2024-43 amends G.S. 20-179.3(g5) to require that an IID vendor report to NC DMV any attempt to start a vehicle with an alcohol concentration greater than 0.02 or any other IID violation (including tampering with an IID), though is not clear how or whether such a report will be transmitted to the court that issued the privilege. Amended subsection (g5) further provides that removal of an IID before the end of the revocation period voids the limited driving privilege. When this occurs, NC DMV is required to remove the privilege from the person’s driving record.
IID will be required for license restorations following revocation for convictions of felony death or serious injury by vehicle under G.S. 20-141.4. Under current law, a person is required to have IID as a condition of having his or her license restored if the person’s license was revoked for (a) a conviction of habitual impaired driving under G.S. 20-138.5 or (b) for misdemeanor impaired driving under G.S. 20-138.1 if the person’s alcohol concentration was 0.15 or more or the person was convicted of another impaired driving offense that occurred within 7 years of the current offense. G.S. 20-17.8(a), (a1).
S.L. 2024-43 broadens this requirement to also require that a person have IID as a license condition upon restoration if the person’s license was revoked for a conviction under G.S. 20-141.4 for any crime other than misdemeanor death by vehicle. The other crimes in G.S. 20-141.4 to which this requirement applies are felony death by vehicle and serious injury by vehicle and the aggravated and repeat versions of those offenses.
The duration of the IID restriction for these new offenses will range from three years to seven years, depending on the original revocation period. G.S. 20-17.8(c).
Extension of revocation period for IID violations in last 90 days.
Limited driving privilege IID violations. S.L. 2024-43 extends the applicable revocation period and limited driving privilege period for a person who required to have ignition interlock pursuant to G.S. 20-179.3(g5) who violates an IID restriction in the last 90 days of a limited driving privilege. New G.S. 20-179.3(j2) provides that the period of revocation and the authorization to drive with the limited driving privilege and an IID is extended for an additional 90 days or until the person has been violation-free for a 90-day period.
Restored license IID violations. S.L. 2024-43 similarly extends the period for which an IID is required when a person commits an IID violation in the last 90 days during which he or she is required to have an IID. New G.S. 20-17.8(g1) provides that when such a violation occurs, the IID restriction period is extended for an additional 90 days or until the person has been violation-free for a 90-day period. The person’s license is not subject to a one-year revocation as would be the case for certain types of violations that occur earlier in the restriction period. (The types of violations that trigger an extension under new G.S. 20-17.8(g1) are broader than the types of violations that result in an additional one-year revocation under G.S. 20-17.8(g). For example, while an attempt to start a vehicle with an alcohol concentration greater than 0.02 would not trigger action by NC DMV before the last 90 days, such an attempt is actionable behavior that would lead to an extension in the last 90 days.)
Stay tuned. If this blog post hasn’t already convinced you, these changes are both technical and complicated. We will all be watching to see how they play out in practice.