driver's license Archives – North Carolina Criminal Law

2024 Changes to Laws Governing Limited Driving Privileges and Requiring Ignition Interlock

August 1, 2024 Shea Denning

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.

Does NC DMV Learn of Convictions in Other States?

July 22, 2022July 14, 2022 Shea Denning

(Author’s Note: This post was updated on July 22, 2022, to note that NC DMV reports all in-state convictions for drivers licensed in another state to the state of record.)

If a North Carolina resident with a North Carolina driver’s license is convicted of a motor vehicle offense in Virginia, will the NC DMV learn of the conviction?

Yes.

If a Virginia resident with a Virginia driver’s license is convicted of a motor vehicle offense in North Carolina, will the Virginia DMV learn of the conviction?

Yes.

Keep reading to find out why.

What’s New in Motor Vehicle World?

November 14, 2019 Shea Denning

Legislation passed this fall allows for more remote license renewals, supports the study of futuristic license plates, exempts drivers and passengers in some open-air autocycles from helmet requirements, and makes it easier to buy an alcoholic beverage the day after your twenty-first birthday.

Revoking Licenses for Failure to Pay: Is Change on the Horizon?

April 24, 2019 Shea Denning

The revocation of driver’s licenses for unpaid court costs and fines has been a hot topic of late. Much of the focus has centered around the spiral of debt that can result when an indigent person’s license is revoked for this reason. The narrative goes like this: The person is convicted of a relatively minor violation of the motor vehicle laws. Court costs and a fine are imposed. The person, who is financially unable to do so, fails to pay those amounts. Forty days after the judgment, the clerk of court reports the failure to pay to DMV. DMV mails a revocation order to the person, which becomes effective 60 days later. The person could forestall or end the revocation by paying the amounts owed, but she lacks the funds to do that. Yet she must drive in order to keep her job. So, notwithstanding the revocation, she continues to drive. Soon, she is charged with driving while license revoked and is convicted. Court costs are imposed again. And again, she lacks the funds to pay. DMV issues another revocation. When this cycle repeats itself over time, the person may wind up owing hundreds – or even thousands – of dollars in court debt, which, again, she lacks the resources to pay.

Studies Tout Safety Benefits of Expanded Ignition Interlock

February 20, 2019 Shea Denning

The National Center for State Courts recently published an Ignition Interlock Report reviewing the latest research on ignition interlock programs. Two of the studies cited reported efficacy rates striking enough to attract the attention of any policy wonk interested in highway safety.

Restoring the License Restoration Provision for Persons Convicted of Habitual DWI

August 23, 2017 Shea Denning

Legislation enacted by the General Assembly this session again makes it possible for persons convicted of habitual impaired driving to (eventually) have their driving privileges restored.

Study Suggests that Licensing Unauthorized Immigrants Improves Traffic Safety

April 5, 2017 Shea Denning

Researchers at Stanford University recently published a study showing that a 2013 California law allowing unauthorized immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses led to a significant reduction in hit and run accidents and did not increase the rate of traffic accidents and fatalities. The study’s authors said this latter finding “suggests there is no empirical support for the claim that unauthorized immigrants are less cautious drivers or generally more likely to cause accidents.” Instead, the findings suggest that “providing driver’s licenses to unauthorized immigrants led to improved traffic safety” and to “significant positive externalities for the communities in which they live.” What significance might this finding have for policymakers in North Carolina?

Does State v. Ashworth Place Factors Over Substance?

August 3, 2016 Shea Denning

The court of appeals reversed a defendant’s DWI conviction yesterday in State v. Ashworth, __ N.C. App. __ (August 2, 2016), on the basis that the trial court plainly erred in holding that the driver’s license checkpoint at which the defendant was stopped was appropriately tailored and advanced the public interest. Unlike some checkpoint cases in which you can see the trouble coming in the recitation of facts, Ashworth is a pretty routine checkpoint case. Two officers with the State Highway Patrol set up the checkpoint to look for driver’s license and other traffic violations. The highway patrol had a checkpoint policy that the officers followed. A supervisor approved the checkpoint. The defendant admitted that he had been drinking almost immediately after he stopped at the checkpoint. So where did the trial court go wrong?

Fake IDs and Criminal Consequences

September 2, 2015 Shea Denning

Fake IDs were ever-present on campus when I was an undergraduate. There were several varieties: a “novelty” driver’s license obtained from a private vendor, a doctored version of the underage person’s real driver’s license, a duplicate driver’s license from an older relative, friend or acquaintance who resembled the underage person, or, the gold standard: a DMV-issued driver’s license with the underage person’s picture but an older person’s name, address, and birthdate. These days, on-line vendors hawk fake IDs, and facial recognition software makes it nearly impossible to obtain the gold standard fake ID from DMV. Otherwise, not all that much has changed in the collegiate fake-id market.

Often an underage person’s use of fraudulent identification leads to charges that are purely alcohol-related, such as the unlawful purchase or consumption of alcohol by an underage person. But other criminal charges may stem directly from the use of the fake ID.