GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2009

H                                                                                                                                                   D

HOUSE DRH50231-MA-194  (2/11)

Short Title:        Require a "First in Flight" Background.		(Public)
Sponsors:	Representative Allen.
Referred to:

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to require all registration plates that are issued by the Division to be "first in flight" plates, including all future specialized plates.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 20‑63(b) reads as rewritten:

"(b)      Every license plate shall have displayed upon it the registration number assigned to the vehicle for which it is issued, the name of the State of North Carolina, which may be abbreviated, and the year number for which it is issued or the date of expiration. A plate issued for a commercial vehicle, as defined in G.S. 20‑4.2(1), and weighing 26,001 pounds or more, must bear the word "commercial," unless the plate is a special registration plate authorized in G.S. 20‑79.4 or the commercial vehicle is a trailer or is licensed for 6,000 pounds or less. The plate issued for vehicles licensed for 7,000 pounds through 26,000 pounds must bear the word "weighted".

Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a registration plate issued by the Division for a private passenger vehicle or for a private hauler vehicle licensed for 6,000 pounds or less shall be a "First in Flight" plate. A "First in Flight" plate shall have the words "First in Flight" printed at the top of the plate above all other letters and numerals. The background of the plate shall depict the Wright Brothers biplane flying over Kitty Hawk Beach, with the plane flying slightly upward and to the right. The following special registration plates do not have to be a "First in Flight" plate. The design of the plates that are not "First in Flight" plates must be approved by the Division and the State Highway Patrol for clarity and ease of identification.

(1) Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

(2) Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

(3) Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation.

(4) Friends of the Appalachian Trail.

(5) NC Coastal Federation.

(6) In God We Trust.

(7) Stock Car Racing Theme.

(8) Buddy Pelletier Surfing Foundation.

(9) Guilford Battleground Company.

(10) National Wild Turkey Federation.

(11) North Carolina Aquarium Society.

(12) First in Forestry.

(13) North Carolina Wildlife Habitat Foundation.

(14) NC Trout Unlimited.

(15) Ducks Unlimited.

(16) Lung Cancer Research.

(17) NC State Parks.

(18) Support Our Troops.

(19) US Equine Rescue League.

(20) Fox Hunting.

(21) Back Country Horsemen of North Carolina.

(22) Hospice Care.

(23) Home Care and Hospice.

(24) NC Tennis Foundation.

(25) AIDS Awareness."

SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2009, and applies to all registration plates issued on or after that date.  Any special registration plate that has been authorized by the General Assembly and is in production on the date this act becomes effective may continue to be produced in the same manner as before the effective date of this act.