Top articles on NC driving laws and street safety tips

North Carolina drivers face many important laws designed for road safety and fairness. Drivers should know the rules for passing bicycles, how penalties work for expired tags, and what to do during a traffic stop. This coverage addresses issues such as the consequences of brake-checking, turning at red lights, and abiding by left-lane driving laws.

Raleigh's Vision Zero program and 'Safe Streets for All' highlight local efforts to reduce serious crashes and improve walkability and lighting, especially in older neighborhoods. These guides offer practical tips, from pulling over for funeral processions to understanding updated legislative proposals on slow left-lane driving, which help everyone share the road responsibly.

Traffic backs up on Knox Abbot Drive in Cayce on Thursday, March 30, 2023 as motorists take a detour through Cayce and Columbia. The northbound lanes of I-77 are closed between I-26 and Bluff Road until April 2, 2023 as bridge decks are being repaired. By Tracy Glantz

NO. 1: NC DRIVING LAWS: EXPIRED TAGS, RED LIGHTS AND PASSING. HERE ARE THE RULES OF THE ROAD

What to know about some North Carolina driving laws. | Published July 25, 2024 | Read Full Story by McClatchy North Carolina Service Journalism Team, with AI Summarization

NO. 2: A ROUNDUP OF NC DRIVING LAWS, FROM BRAKE-CHECKING TO THE ‘CAROLINA SQUAT’

Can you text at lights? Do you need plates on trailers? What about flashing your high beams? | Published September 20, 2024 | Read Full Story

Raleigh police and fire personnel stand by as the vehicle involved in a fatal crash is hauled away from the intersection of South Dawson and South Lenoir Streets in downtown Raleigh early Friday morning. By John Hansen

NO. 3: CAN RALEIGH PREVENT ALL FATAL CAR CRASHES? IT THINKS IT HAS A SHOT AND WANTS YOUR HELP

Safe Streets for All is a city effort to eliminate car crashes that kill or seriously injure people by 2045. | Published January 30, 2025 | Read Full Story by Richard Stradling

Lewis Hutchison of the Raleigh Police Advisory Board, left, and Senior Officer Christopher Melochick, right, role-play a traffic stop scenario during a demonstration Thursday, March 20, 2025, at John Chavis Memorial Park Community Center. By Travis Long

NO. 4: BLUE LIGHTS FLASHING BEHIND YOU? HERE’S WHAT RALEIGH POLICE SAY YOU NEED TO KNOW.

Experts shared their perspectives Thursday on what drivers should know during traffic stops. | Published March 26, 2025 | Read Full Story by Lexi Solomon

Rush hour traffic is bumper to bumper in the north bound lane of US 1 where it is reduced to two lanes between I-540 and Durant Road on Tuesday, June 6, 2023 in Raleigh, N.C.

NO. 5: WHAT’S THE WORST PART ABOUT DRIVING IN RALEIGH? WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU.

Tell us about your experience driving in the Triangle by filling out our quick form. | Published April 28, 2025 | Read Full Story by Evan Moore

Traffic backs up behind a driver in the left lane of Interstate 40 near the Jones Franklin Road overpass. A bill in the General Assembly would make it a crime to drive in the left lane at a “speed that impedes the normal and reasonable movement of traffic.” By Ethan Hyman

NO. 6: DRIVERS GOING TOO SLOW IN THE LEFT LANE? NC LAWMAKERS THINK THEY CAN FIX THAT

State law already forbids slow drivers in the left lane under some circumstances. A House bill would apply that ban more broadly. | Published April 30, 2025 | Read Full Story by Richard Stradling

The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.