Traffic-related bills race toward House floor

The committee also gave the green flag to House Bill 814, which would allow autonomous delivery vehicles to operate in residential areas at speeds of up to 45 mph, subject to safety restrictions.

"This bill defines the term 'neighborhood occupantless vehicle' as a low-speed vehicle that is also a fully autonomous vehicle, designed to be operated without an occupant and used to transport cargo," explained sponsor Rep. Jason Saine, R-Lincoln, adding that the vehicles are currently permitted on roads with a speed limit up to 35 mph.

"Autonomous vehicles have the potential to improve road safety, create jobs, expand access for people in rural communities and those with disabilities or who live in food deserts," Saine told the committee.

The only bill that got any debate was a House Bill 886, a proposal to allow license plate readers on state roads and highways at the request of the State Bureau of Investigation.

Rep. John Faircloth, R-Guilford, has sponsored similar bills in many previous sessions, but none has ever become law. That's largely because of privacy concerns on both sides of the aisle.

Faircloth, a retired police chief, said the readers can help law enforcement track and locate people who have been abducted or fleeing criminals. He said they would be temporary, not permanent, and would be used only for criminal investigations, not traffic charges.

"If a crime is committed, then they would put these license readers out there," Faircloth explained, comparing them to the Amber Alert messages often posted on overhead highway signs. "They would read everyone going back, and if there's a hot one in the bunch, so to speak, it would pull that out, and we can locate that vehicle."

Rep. George Cleveland, R-Onslow, has been skeptical of the bill in the past, and that hasn't changed. He said it isn't necessary because license plate readers are already in use on many other streets and roads maintained by county, city or federal governments.

"I don't see the need for us to start putting permanent installations on our highways to gather data, and eventually down the road, that's exactly what this is going to become," Cleveland said.

Rep. Deb Butler, D-New Hanover, questioned how the data would be stored and how long it would be kept – 90 days, staff said – while Rep. Brian Farkas, R-Pitt, asked who would ultimately make the decision to use the readers.

"I'm concerned if there's a situation where maybe someone's just trying to figure out where somebody is, and they've got access to the license plate reader system," Farkas said.

The committee approved the bill, but the voice vote sounded close. It, too, is expected on the House floor before the legislature's Thursday deadline for policy-related bills to clear either the House or the Senate.