Under the Dome
Cooper misleads about bill covering drivers who hit protesters
To hear the Wake County Democratic Party tell it, a proposed North Carolina law would protect drivers who “plow into” protesters.
And according to state Sen. Mike Woodard, a Durham Democrat, House Bill 330 would allow drivers “to drive through protesters without being sued.”
While the bill is stalled in the state Senate after passing the House, Democrats and others across the state used the violence in Charlottesville as a springboard to further criticize HB 330.
On Tuesday, Gov. Roy Cooper joined the crowd in calling for legislators to let the bill die.
“The North Carolina legislature should defeat a bill that grants immunity from liability to motorists who strike protesters,” Cooper said in a press release.
“That bill passed the state House and remains alive in the Senate. The Senate should kill it. Full stop,” Cooper said. “Those who attack protesters, weaponizing their vehicles like terrorists, should find no safe haven in our state.”
Would an NC bill offer immunity to drivers who strike protesters? https://t.co/ioc5Fqppln
— PolitiFact NC (@PolitiFactNC) August 16, 2017
Cooper and others are failing to explain important details of the bill, which experts predict would do little to change personal injury proceedings. See why PolitiFact North Carolina rates Cooper’s claim as Mostly False by reading the story on the fact-checking website.
Paul A. Specht: 919-829-4870, @AndySpecht
PolitiFact North Carolina
Speaker: Gov. Roy Cooper
Statement: House Bill 330 “grants immunity from liability to motorists who strike protesters.”
Ruling: Cooper overstates what this bill would do. And legal experts say that, while untested, the bill doesn't appear to change litigation and might not offer any additional protections at all. We rate this claim Mostly False.
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