NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1979 SESSION

CHAPTER 653

SENATE BILL 36

AN ACT TO PROHIBIT POSSESSION OF RED AND BLUE LIGHTS IN MOTOR VEHICLES.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 20-130.1 is rewritten to read as follows:

"§ 20-130.1.  Use of red or blue lights on vehicles prohibited; exceptions. — (a) It is unlawful for any person to install or activate or operate a red light in or on any vehicle in this State. As used in this subsection, unless the context requires otherwise, 'red light' means an operable red light not sealed in the manufacturer's original package which: (1) is designed for use by an emergency vehicle or is similar in appearance to a red light designed for use by an emergency vehicle; and (2) can be operated by use of the vehicle's battery, vehicle's electrical system, or a dry cell battery.

(b)        The provisions of subsection (a) of this section do not apply to the following:

(1)        a police car;

(2)        a highway patrol car;

(3)        a vehicle owned by the Wildlife Resources Commission and operated exclusively for law-enforcement purposes;

(4)        an ambulance;

(5)        a vehicle designed, equipped, and used exclusively for the transportation of human tissues and organs for transplantation;

(6)        a fire-fighting vehicle;

(7)        a school bus;

(8)        a vehicle operated by any member of a municipal or rural fire department in the performance of his duties, regardless of whether members of that fire department are paid or voluntary;

(9)        a vehicle of a voluntary lifesaving organization that has been officially approved by the local police authorities and which is manned or operated by members of that organization while answering an official call;

(10)      a vehicle operated by medical doctors or anesthetists in emergencies;

(11)      a motor vehicle used in law enforcement by the sheriff, or any salaried rural policeman in any county, regardless of whether or not the county owns the vehicle;

(12)      a vehicle operated by any county fire marshal or civil preparedness coordinator in the performance of his duties, regardless of whether or not the county owns the vehicle; and

(13)      any lights that may be prescribed by the Interstate Commerce Commission.

(c)        It is unlawful for any person to possess a blue light in or on any vehicle in this State. As used in this subsection, unless the context requires otherwise, 'blue light' means an operable blue light not sealed in the manufacturer's original package which: (1) is designed for use by an emergency vehicle, or is similar in appearance to a blue light designed for use by an emergency vehicle; and (2) can be operated by use of the vehicle's battery, the vehicle's electrical system, or a dry cell battery.

(d)        The provisions of subsection (c) of this section do not apply to a publicly owned vehicle used primarily for law-enforcement purposes or any other vehicle used primarily by law-enforcement officers in the performance of their official duties.

(e)        Violation of subsection (a) or (c) of this section is a misdemeanor punishable under G.S. 14-3(a)."

Sec. 2.  G.S. 20-125(c) is repealed.

Sec. 3.  This act shall become effective on October 1, 1979.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 28th day of May, 1979.