Expunge your DWI/DUI before December 1, 2015 or it will be too late

G.S. 15A-145.5 allows for the expunction of convictions for “nonviolent” misdemeanors and felonies which are at least fifteen years old. Until recently, a misdemeanor DWI conviction has not been on the list of excluded offenses. However, amended G.S. 15A-145 (expunction of misdemeanor conviction for first offender under 18), G.S. 15A-145.4 (expunction of nonviolent felony conviction for first offender under 18), and G.S. 15A-145.5 (expunction of certain nonviolent misdemeanor or felony convictions without age limitation), will add the DWI to the list of excluded offenses for expunction petitions filed or pending on or after December 1, 2015.
If you otherwise qualify, have your expunction petition filed immediately. Expunction petitions can take four to six months to be granted and the new law will bar any petitions not granted by December 1, 2015. So get going or it will be too late.

Registration of Mopeds Now Required, Insurance…2016

If you have/drive a moped, you must now get it registered before you can motor on highways or public vehicular areas.(G.S. 20-53.4, effective July 1, 2015)

A moped is defined as “[a] vehicle that has two or three wheels, no external shifting device, and a motor that does not exceed 50 cubic centimeters piston displacement and cannot propel the vehicle at a speed greater than 30 miles per hour on a level surface.” (G.S. 20-4.01(21a), see G.S. 105-164.3).

If you have a moped that can go faster than 30 mph, registration has already been required. G.S. 20-50(a).

To get your moped registered, you must have a manufacturer’s certificate of origin and the moped must be designed and manufactured for use on highways or public vehicular areas.

The fee for registering a moped is $18.00. But residents of Durham, Orange, Randolph, and Wake counties will have to pay additional county surcharges. G.S. 20-87(6).

If you get caught driving an unregistered moped on a street or highway, allowing a moped someone else to drive your unregistered moped or not displaying your registration, it is a Class 3 misdemeanor. G.S. 20-111(1).

Right now, moped insurance is not required but that won’t be the case for long. The General Assembly ratified a bill recently which amends the law (G.S. 20-309(a)) and requires owners of mopeds as of July 1, 2016 to have insurance.