NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1963 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 964

HOUSE BILL 384

 

 

AN ACT TO AMEND THE VEHICLE FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ACT OF 1957 SO AS TO ELIMINATE CERTAIN REPORTING, TO PROVIDE FOR CERTIFICATION OF INSURANCE, TO PROVIDE PENALTIES FOR FALSE CERTIFICATION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

 

Section 1.  G.S. 20-309 is hereby rewritten to read as follows:

"§ 20-309.  Financial Responsibility Prerequisite to Registration; Must be Maintained Throughout Registration Period. (a) No self-propelled motor vehicle shall be registered in this State unless the owner at the time of registration has financial responsibility for the operation of such motor vehicle, as provided in this Article, and certifies that he has such financial responsibility. The owner of each motor vehicle registered in this State shall maintain financial responsibility continuously throughout the period of registration.

(b)        Financial responsibility shall be a liability insurance policy or a financial security bond or a financial security deposit or by qualification as a self-insurer, as these terms are denned and described in Article 9A, Chapter 20 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, as amended.

(c)        When it is certified that financial responsibility is a liability insurance policy, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles may require that the owner produce records to prove the fact of such insurance, and failure to produce such records shall be prima facie evidence that no financial responsibility exists with regard to the vehicle concerned. It shall be the duty of insurance companies, upon request of the Department, to verify the accuracy of any owner's certification. Failure by an insurance company to deny coverage within twenty days may be considered by the Commissioner as acknowledgement that the information as submitted is correct.

(d)        When liability insurance with regard to any motor vehicle is terminated by cancellation or failure to renew, or the owner's financial responsibility for the operation of any motor vehicle is otherwise terminated, the owner shall forthwith surrender the registration certificate and plates of the vehicle to the Department of Motor Vehicles unless financial responsibility is maintained in some other manner in compliance with this Article.

(e)        No insurance policy provided in paragraph (d) may be terminated by cancellation or otherwise by the insurer without having given the North Carolina Motor Vehicles Department notice of such cancellation fifteen (15) days prior to effective date of cancellation."

Sec. 2.  G.S. 20-310 is hereby amended by: (a) Inserting the words "by certificate of mailing" between the words "termination" and "to" in line 4 thereof.

(b)        Inserting the word "latest" between the words "the" and "address" in line 4 thereof.

(c)        Striking out the words "shown on the policy" following the word "address" and preceding the period in line 4 thereof and inserting in lieu thereof the following words: "filed with the insurer by or on behalf of the policyholder".

(d)        Inserting following the period after the word "policy" and preceding the word "Time" in line 4 thereof the following sentence: "The face of the envelope containing such notice shall be prominently marked with the words 'Important Insurance Notice.' " (e) Striking out the words "proof of" preceding the word "financial" at the beginning of line 8 thereof.

(f)         Striking out the words "proof of" following the word "such" and preceding the word "financial" in line 10 thereof.

(g)        Changing the period following the word "misdemeanor" near the end of line 10 to a comma and inserting following such comma the words: "the penalties for which are loss of license plate and suspension of driver's license for thirty (30) days; and a fine or imprisonment in the discretion of the court." (h) Striking out the last sentence thereof beginning with the word "upon" near the end of line 10 thereof.

Sec. 3.  G.S. 20-310.1 is hereby repealed.

Sec. 4.  G.S. 20-311 is hereby rewritten to read as follows:

"G.S. 20-311.  Revocation of Registration and Driver's License When Financial Responsibility not in Effect. The Department of Motor Vehicles, upon receipt of evidence that financial responsibility for the operation of any motor vehicle registered or required to be registered in this State is not or was not in effect at the time of operation or certification that insurance was in effect, shall revoke the registration of such vehicle and suspend the operator's and chauffeur's licenses of the owner thereof for a period of thirty (30) days. In no case shall any vehicle, the registration of which has been revoked for failure to have financial responsibility, be re-registered in the name of the registered owner, his spouse, or any child or the spouse of any child of such owner, within less than thirty (30) days after the date of said revocation. As a condition precedent to the re-registration of the vehicle of reinstatement of the operator's and chauffeur's licenses of the owner, the owner shall give and thereafter maintain proof of financial responsibility as defined and described in Article 9A, Chapter 20 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, as amended, for a period of two (2) years and shall pay the appropriate fees for a new registration."

Sec. 5.  G.S. 20-313 is hereby rewritten to read as follows:

"G.S. 20-313.  Operation of Motor Vehicle Without Financial Responsibility as Misdemeanor. (a) On or after July 1, 1963, any owner of a motor vehicle registered or required to be registered in this State who shall operate or permit such motor vehicle to be operated in this State without having in full force and effect the financial responsibility required by this Article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined or imprisoned in the discretion of the court.

(b)        Evidence that the owner of a motor vehicle registered or required to be registered in this State has operated or permitted such motor vehicle to be operated in this State, coupled with proof of records of the Department of Motor Vehicles indicating that the owner did not have financial responsibility applicable to the operation of the motor vehicle in the manner certified by him for purposes of G.S. 20-309, shall be prima facie evidence that such owner did at the time and place alleged operate or permit such motor vehicle to be operated without having in full force and effect the financial responsibility required by the provisions of this Article."

Sec. 6.  Article 13 of Chapter 20 of the General Statutes is hereby amended by adding thereto a new Section 1, to be designated G.S. 20-313.1 and to read as follows:

"G.S. 20-313.1.  Making False Certification or Giving False Information a Misdemeanor. (a) Any owner of a motor vehicle registered or required to be registered in this State who shall make a false certification concerning his financial responsibility for the operation of such motor vehicle shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined or imprisoned in the discretion of the Court.

(b)        Any person, firm, or corporation giving false information to the Department concerning another's financial responsibility for the operation of a motor vehicle registered or required to be registered in this State, knowing or having reason to believe that such information is false, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined or imprisoned in the discretion of the Court."

Sec. 7.  G.S. 20-314 is hereby amended by inserting following the words "General Statutes" in lines 1 and 6 thereof the words and punctuation ", as amended,".

Sec. 8.  G.S. 20-316 is hereby repealed.

Sec. 9.  All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with the Act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 10.  This Act shall become effective October 1, 1963.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 18th day of June, 1963.