(a) No person shall park or leave standing any vehicle, whether attended or unattended, upon the main-traveled portion of any highway or highway bridge with the speed limit posted less than 45 miles per hour unless the vehicle is disabled to such an extent that it is impossible to avoid stopping and temporarily leaving the vehicle upon the paved or main traveled portion of the highway or highway bridge. This subsection shall not apply to a solid waste vehicle stopped on a highway while engaged in collecting garbage as defined in G.S. 20-118(c)(5)g. or recyclable material as defined in G.S. 130A-290(a)(26).
(a1) No person shall park or leave standing any vehicle, whether attended or unattended, upon the paved or main-traveled portion of any highway or highway bridge with the speed limit posted 45 miles per hour or greater unless the vehicle is disabled to such an extent that it is impossible to avoid stopping and temporarily leaving the vehicle upon the paved or main-traveled portion of the highway or highway bridge. This subsection shall not apply to a solid waste vehicle stopped on a highway while engaged in collecting garbage as defined in G.S. 20-118(c)(5)g. or recyclable material as defined in G.S. 130A-290(a)(26).
(b) No person shall park or leave standing any vehicle upon the shoulder of a public highway unless the vehicle can be clearly seen by approaching drivers from a distance of 200 feet in both directions and does not obstruct the normal movement of traffic.
(c) The operator of any truck, truck tractor, trailer or semitrailer which is disabled upon any portion of the highway shall display warning devices of a type and in a manner as required under the rules and regulations of the United States Department of Transportation as adopted by the Division of Motor Vehicles. Such warning devices shall be displayed as long as the vehicle is disabled.
(d) The owner of any vehicle parked or left standing in violation of law shall be deemed to have appointed any investigating law-enforcement officer his agent:
(1) For the purpose of removing the vehicle to the shoulder of the highway or to some other suitable place; and
(2) For the purpose of arranging for the transportation and safe storage of any vehicle which is interfering with the regular flow of traffic or which otherwise constitutes a hazard, in which case the officer shall be deemed a legal possessor of the vehicle within the meaning of G.S. 44A-2(d).
(e) When any vehicle is parked or left standing upon the right-of-way of a public highway, including rest areas, for a period of 24 hours or more, the owner shall be deemed to have appointed any investigating law-enforcement officer his agent for the purpose of arranging for the transportation and safe storage of such vehicle and such investigating law-enforcement officer shall be deemed a legal possessor of the motor vehicle within the meaning of that term as it appears in G.S. 44A-2(d).
(f) An investigating law enforcement officer, with the concurrence of the Department of Transportation, or the Department of Transportation, with the concurrence of an investigating law enforcement officer, may immediately remove or cause to be removed from the State highway system any wrecked, abandoned, disabled, unattended, burned, or partially dismantled vehicle, cargo, or other personal property interfering with the regular flow of traffic or which otherwise constitutes a hazard. In the event of a motor vehicle crash involving serious personal injury or death, no removal shall occur until the investigating law enforcement officer determines that adequate information has been obtained for preparation of a crash report. No state or local law enforcement officer, Department of Transportation employee, or person or firm contracting or assisting in the removal or disposition of any such vehicle, cargo, or other personal property shall be held criminally or civilly liable for any damage or economic injury related to carrying out or enforcing the provisions of this section.
(g) The owner shall be liable for any costs incurred in the removal, storage, and subsequent disposition of a vehicle, cargo, or other personal property under the authority of this section. (1937, c. 407, s. 123; 1951, c. 1165, s. 1; 1971, c. 294, s. 1; 1973, c. 1330, s. 25; 1985, c. 454, s. 6; 2003-310, s. 1; 2007-360, ss. 4, 5; 2009-104, s. 1; 2010-132, ss. 13, 14, 15; 2015-231, s. 1.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
67
cases (
1 in the last 5 years), 1944–2021 · leading case:
Adams v. Mills, 322 S.E.2d 164 (N.C. 1984).
Adams v. Mills, 322 S.E.2d 164 (N.C. 1984).
· cites it 12× “We will first address the question of whether there was sufficient evidence to take the case to the jury on the issues of (A) contributory negligence per se and (B) proximate cause, and then discuss the additional question of (C) the sufficiency of the evi *188 dence to submit…”
Smith v. Pass, 382 S.E.2d 781 (N.C. Ct. App. 1989).
· cites it 7× “As stated previously our courts have construed “parking” under G.S. 20-161 so as to exclude temporary stops for a necessary purpose.”
Hutton v. Logan, 566 S.E.2d 782 (N.C. Ct. App. 2002).
· cites it 12× “It reads: (a) No person shall park or leave standing any vehicle, whether attended or unattended, upon the paved or main-traveled portion of any highway or highway bridge outside municipal corporate limits unless the vehicle is disabled to such an extent that it is impossible to…”
Culler v. Hamlett, 559 S.E.2d 192 (N.C. Ct. App. 2002).
· cites it 3× “In her complaint, plaintiff alleged the following with respect to the defendant: (1) he was negligent in that he parked, or left standing, his motor vehicle that was not disabled on a public highway in violation of N.C.G.S. § 20-161(a) (1999); (2) he operated his vehicle in…”
Nw. Distributors, Inc. v. N. C. Dep't of Transp., 255 S.E.2d 203 (N.C. Ct. App. 1979).
· cites it 3× “Nevertheless, under the Tort Claims Act driver Moxley and other employees were required to use reasonable care while so engaged in working on the highway, and this failure to do so would constitute negligence.”
Cissell v. Glover Landscape Supply, Inc., 486 S.E.2d 472 (N.C. Ct. App. 1997).
· cites it 6× “I concur with that portion of the majority opinion which holds that in the context of a standard negligence case, with its attendant issues of contributory negligence, "gross negligence" and "willful or wanton conduct" refer to the same level of tortious behavior.”
King v. Allred, 305 S.E.2d 554 (N.C. 1983).
· cites it 4× “In addition it is a violation of G.S. 20-161(a), to leave a vehicle on the main traveled portion of the highway beyond municipal corporate limits unless it is impossible to move the vehicle due to a breakdown.”
Thomas v. Deloatch, 263 S.E.2d 615 (N.C. Ct. App. 1980).
· cites it 8× “The trial judge instructed in part: [A] person may park or leave standing a vehicle on the shoulder of the highway, that is, completely off the traveled portion thereof, at a place where he can be clearly seen by approaching drivers from at least two hundred feet in any…”
Melton v. Crotts, 125 S.E.2d 396 (N.C. 1962).
· cites it 4× “It does not purport, except as to trucks, trailers, and semitrailers, to define what means the owner of a vehicle stopped on the highway shall use to notify others using the highway of his presence. It does not conflict with nor reduce the obligation imposed on the operator of a…”
Morris v. Jenrette Transp. Co., 70 S.E.2d 845 (N.C. 1952).
· cites it 3× “The uncontradicted statement of defendant’s driver, offered in evidence by plaintiff through his witness, the deputy sheriff, refutes the theory of “a parking” of defendant’s tractor-trailer at the place of the collision in question, within the meaning of the statute, G.S.…”
Meece v. Dickson, 113 S.E.2d 578 (N.C. 1960).
· cites it 5× “In this connection it is appropriate to refer to two statutes, G.S. 20-161 and G.S. 20-134, each in pertinent part pertaining to the operation of motor vehicles upon the highways in this State.”
Griffin v. Watkins, 153 S.E.2d 356 (N.C. 1967).
· cites it 4× “: that they failed to exercise due care; that they failed to have the lights on as provided by statute if it was thirty minutes after sunset or the visibility was less than two hundred feet; or (that) they parked on the highway when it was practical or reasonably practical to…”
— N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-161(a) — 16 cases
Adams v. Mills, 322 S.E.2d 164 (N.C. 1984).
“We will first address the question of whether there was sufficient evidence to take the case to the jury on the issues of (A) contributory negligence per se and (B) proximate cause, and then discuss the additional question of (C) the sufficiency of the evi *188 dence to submit…”
Smith v. Pass, 382 S.E.2d 781 (N.C. Ct. App. 1989).
“As stated previously our courts have construed “parking” under G.S. 20-161 so as to exclude temporary stops for a necessary purpose.”
Culler v. Hamlett, 559 S.E.2d 192 (N.C. Ct. App. 2002).
“In her complaint, plaintiff alleged the following with respect to the defendant: (1) he was negligent in that he parked, or left standing, his motor vehicle that was not disabled on a public highway in violation of N.C.G.S. § 20-161(a) (1999); (2) he operated his vehicle in…”
Cissell v. Glover Landscape Supply, Inc., 486 S.E.2d 472 (N.C. Ct. App. 1997).
“I concur with that portion of the majority opinion which holds that in the context of a standard negligence case, with its attendant issues of contributory negligence, "gross negligence" and "willful or wanton conduct" refer to the same level of tortious behavior.”
King v. Allred, 305 S.E.2d 554 (N.C. 1983).
“In addition it is a violation of G.S. 20-161(a), to leave a vehicle on the main traveled portion of the highway beyond municipal corporate limits unless it is impossible to move the vehicle due to a breakdown.”
— N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-161(a)(b) — 1 case
Thomas v. Deloatch, 263 S.E.2d 615 (N.C. Ct. App. 1980).
“The trial judge instructed in part: [A] person may park or leave standing a vehicle on the shoulder of the highway, that is, completely off the traveled portion thereof, at a place where he can be clearly seen by approaching drivers from at least two hundred feet in any…”
— N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-161(b) — 1 case
Nw. Distributors, Inc. v. N. C. Dep't of Transp., 255 S.E.2d 203 (N.C. Ct. App. 1979).
“Nevertheless, under the Tort Claims Act driver Moxley and other employees were required to use reasonable care while so engaged in working on the highway, and this failure to do so would constitute negligence.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.