AN ACT to revise certain traffic laws and the design of collegiate insignia plates.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

IMPEDING TRAFFIC

SECTION 1.  G.S. 20‑141(h) reads as rewritten:

(h)      No person shall operate a motor vehicle on the highway at such a slow speed as to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic except when reduced speed is necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law; provided, this provision shall not apply to farm tractors and other motor vehicles operating at reasonable speeds for the type and nature of such vehicles. No person shall operate a motor vehicle in the left lane of a multilane highway at a speed that impedes the normal and reasonable movement of traffic.

MINIMUM OPERATING SPEED ON INTERSTATES AND PRIMARY HIGHWAYS

SECTION 2.(a)  G.S. 20‑141(c) reads as rewritten:

(c)      Except while towing another vehicle, or when an advisory safe‑speed sign indicates a slower speed, or as otherwise provided by law, it shall be unlawful to operate a passenger vehicle upon the interstate and primary highway system at less than the following speeds:

(1)        Forty Forty‑five miles per hour in a speed zone of 55 miles per hour.

(2)        Forty‑five Fifty miles per hour in a speed zone of 60 miles per hour or greater.hour.

(3)        Fifty‑five miles per hour in a speed zone of 65 miles per hour.

(4)        Sixty miles per hour in a speed zone of 70 miles per hour.

These minimum speeds shall be effective only when appropriate signs are posted indicating the minimum speed.

SECTION 2.(b)  Where signs have been posted indicating the minimum speeds set out in G.S. 20‑141(c) prior to the effective date of this section, the Department of Transportation shall post replacement signs indicating the minimum speeds set out in G.S. 20‑141(c), as amended by subsection (a) of this section.

TRUCKS IN LEFT LANE

SECTION 3.  G.S. 20‑146 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:

(f)       Except when entering or exiting the highway, a motor vehicle having a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 26,001 pounds or more shall not operate in the left most lane of a controlled‑access highway with six or more lanes.

COLLEGIATE INSIGNIA PLATES

SECTION 4.(a)  G.S. 20‑63(b1) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:

()        Collegiate Insignia Plate.

SECTION 4.(b)  G.S. 20‑81.12(b30) reads as rewritten:

(b30)  Collegiate Insignia Plates. – Except for a collegiate insignia plate for a public military college or university, the Division must receive 300 or more applications for a collegiate insignia license plate on a background authorized under G.S. 20‑63(b), or 500 or more applications for a collegiate insignia plate on a background authorized under G.S. 20‑63(b1), for a college or university before a collegiate license insignia plate may be developed. For a collegiate insignia license plate for a public military college or university, the Division must receive 100 or more applications before a collegiate license plate may be developed. The requestor of a plate under this subsection is responsible for submitting to the Division the required number of paid applications and artwork for the plate, which must comply with G.S. 20‑79.4(a3), before the Division may issue the plate. The color, design, and material for the plate must be approved by both the Division and the alumni or alumnae association of the appropriate college or university. The Division must transfer quarterly the money in the Collegiate and Cultural Attraction Plate Account derived from the sale of in‑State collegiate insignia plates to the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina for in‑State, public colleges and universities and to the respective board of trustees for in‑State, private colleges and universities in proportion to the number of collegiate plates sold representing that institution for use for academic enhancement.

SECTION 4.(c)  The Revisor of Statutes is authorized to alphabetize, number, and renumber the special registration plates listed in G.S. 20‑63(b1) to ensure that all special registration plates are listed in alphabetical order and numbered accordingly.

SECTION 4.(d)  A college or university with a collegiate insignia plate in production on the effective date of this section may submit an application to the Division on or after the effective date of this section to convert the plate authorized on a standard background to a full‑color background plate authorized under G.S. 20‑63(b1), as amended by subsection (a) of this section. Notwithstanding the minimum number of applications required in G.S. 20‑63(b1) and G.S. 20‑81.12(b30), as amended by subsection (b) of this section, upon submission of artwork that is approved by the Division and the alumni or alumnae association of the college or university and meets all statutory requirements, the Division shall discontinue production and issuance of the applicant college or university collegiate insignia plate on a standard background and produce and issue the applicant college or university collegiate insignia plate on a full‑color background in its place. The Division must allow a vehicle owner with a valid college or university collegiate insignia plate on a standard background that has been converted to a full‑color background plate pursuant to this subsection to request a full‑color plate upon renewal or to continue to renew the standard background plate in the vehicle owner's possession until the plate is otherwise required by law to be surrendered, canceled, revoked, or replaced.

EFFECTIVE DATE

SECTION 5.  Sections 1 through 3 of this act become effective December 1, 2025, and apply to offenses committed on or after that date. Section 4 of this act becomes effective October 1, 2025. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.